SINGAPORE/JAKARTA - Indonesian motorcycle taxi driver Aji chain-smokes and checks his smartphone constantly while waiting for orders by the roadside in downtown Jakarta on a hot June morning, but is staring at the prospect of another fruitless day.
"The situation is that there are many drivers but orders are few," he said, asking to be identified only by his first name. Unions representing Gojek and larger Singaporean rival Grab, Southeast Asia's most highly valued startup at $14 billion, say thousands of drivers are in the same situation, especially in Indonesia, both firms' largest market.Their plight threatens a core promise of both companies: that they can improve the lives of tens of millions of people across Southeast Asia even as they provide big paydays for their blue-chip corporate and financial investors.
Each has avoided major layoffs so far, though Grab is implementing voluntary unpaid leave for staff and Gojek is reviewing its services. In the United States, Uber, whose Southeast Asia business was bought by Grab, said it would cut 23% of its workforce. "The rate of recovery will be mostly dependent on when government lockdowns end," said Grab Operations Managing Director Russell Cohen, noting Grab's transport business had previously been profitable in several markets.
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