Hong Kong’s gig economy in media spotlight as freelancers, casual workers struggle amid protests, coronavirus

The inaugural Hong Kong tech trends report from communications firm ClearStory showed a surge of media interest in covering the gig economy

Its findings have come amid a worsening recession that has left many jobless, working hours cut and income slashed

Reading Time:2 minutes

Workers in Hong Kong’s gig economy – including temporary employees for online delivery platforms – are struggling, as the coronavirus pandemic pummels the city’s economy deeper into recession following months of social unrest. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 8:17pm, 17 Jun 2020Updated: 11:04pm, 17 Jun 2020

Media interest in Hong Kong’s struggling gig economy has intensified over the past 12 months, as freelancers and casual workers lost jobs amid the disruptions caused by anti-government protests and the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study.

The inaugural Hong Kong tech trends report from ClearStory International, a Dublin-based communications agency, said local media coverage on the gig economy increased 67 per cent to 429 online articles from April 2019 to May this year.

By comparison, the overall number of technology articles published online in Hong Kong decreased 13 per cent to 104,482 at the end of April from 119,957 a year ago.

“Hong Kong media have experienced a seismic shift in topics of interest among audiences due to the coronavirus and the protests,” James McCann, founder and managing director of ClearStory, said on Wednesday. “While remote working and videoconferencing remained obvious topics of interest, the first six months of this year saw the gig economy become a contentious issue, with mass confusion over [government] subsidies.”

James McCann, founder and managing director of ClearStory International. Photo: Handout

He indicated that the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on Hong Kong’s gig economy “made for a significant increase in coverage and further analysis”.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x