The Myth of Flexibility and Work-Life Balance in the Gig Economy: Gendered Experiences of Women Ojek Drivers in Indonesia

The gig economy is frequently framed as offering flexible work arrangements, a narrative that has attracted increasing numbers of women workers. This study examines the gendered experiences of women working as ojek online drivers in Indonesia, situating the premise of flexibility within broader structures of labor precarity. Based on face-to-face, semi-structured interviews conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic between July and October 2020 in five Indonesian cities: Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Jakarta, Makassar, and Medan, the study interrogates how flexibility is marketed, perceived, and lived by women drivers. Contrary to dominant claims that flexibility enables women to gain greater economic autonomy, the findings show that societal and cultural expectations continue to be embedded within gig work arrangements. These gendered assumptions, further amplified by platform algorithms, obscure women’s economic dependence on gig income and legitimize precarious working conditions, thereby limiting women drivers’ ability to realise the promised flexibility and economic autonomy.