Ruangguru’s outsourced workers allegedly paid below minimum wage

In February this year, some outsourced workers took to social media to accuse Indonesian edtech “soonicorn” Ruangguru of paying them below the minimum wage.

They added that they did not receive a detailed explanation of their salary and incentive schemes since they started working as salespeople for the firm.

Ruangguru mobile app / Photo credit: 123rf

The workers’ allegations became viral and were highlighted by several Instagram meme accounts like Ecommurz and Ridehaluing.

The dispute gripped the public, as issues related to outsourcing practices are common in Indonesia. Ruangguru isn’t the only startup that uses outsourced workers or contractors to help run its business.

These complaints also highlight a growing global debate about the wealth divide between tech companies and the outsourced workers they rely on to fuel their valuations.

What are their complaints?

Ruangguru tells Tech in Asia that these workers are managed by an outsourcing company. That said, it is working to improve their welfare.

It adds that these workers were actually part of a weeks-long traineeship program in which selected candidates will be granted an employment agreement with the full compensation benefits.

We were able to contact three of Ruangguru’s field education consultants, who are all outsourced workers. Their job is to market the company’s products to potential customers.

The three workers raised two concerns with us.

Lack of transparency during recruitment

Budi (not his real name) says that initially, he did not know that he would become an outsourced worker. He applied through a job portal for the position of account manager.

The job was posted by PT Ruang Raya Indonesia (Ruangguru), he says, and there was no explanation that it was an outsourced position.

Budi only found out about this when he was invited to join a WhatsApp group by a representative of PT Danamas Insan Kreasi Andalan (PT DIKA), which declared themselves the party that would continue the recruitment and operational processes.

Employment contract raises questions

Gray area