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Internet economy to employ 200,000 skilled staff by 2025 in SEA

By 2025, it is estimated that the gross merchandise value (GMV) of the Southeast Asia (SEA) internet economy will reach $240 billion, found a new report by Google and Temasek.

In line with that, the report also estimated that the number of skilled professionals employed in internet economy companies in SEA will increase from 100,000 in 2018 to 200,000 by 2025.

Covering four sectors (e-commerce, online media, online travel, and ride hailing), it estimates that as companies such as Go-Jek, Grab, Lazada, and Sea Group continue to grow their core business and expand into new areas, they will need to grow their teams by more than 10% per year. This is significantly faster than the employment growth in the rest of the economy, which is averaging 1% to 3% per year in most countries in the region.

As companies in the internet economy continue to build their teams, they will increasingly seek productivity improvements across all functions. As a result of efforts, including nurturing talent through training and development programs, employee productivity is expected to increase from one employee for every $700,000 of GMV in 2018 to one employee for every $1.2 million of GMV by 2025.

Apart from adding to their core teams, internet economy companies are creating millions of jobs opportunities for partners across the region.

As of 2018, e-commerce logistics, online transport, and online food delivery services have already enrolled more than 4 million partners on flexible jobs schedules, equating to approximately 500,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. To cope with the expected growth of these sectors, this is projected to increase by three times to more than 12 million total partners, equating to approximately 500,000 FTE jobs.

The report noted that such job opportunities have gained popularity due to two primary benefits:

  • They give partners the ability to work on their own schedules.
  • They provide the opportunity for partners to supplement their income.

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