How Did Women Workers Get Benefit From Revolution 4.0?

Abstract

The development of information and communication technology (ICT) not only raises optimism for economic progress, but also concerns for the increasing level of economic inequality due to the technological nature of capital and skill-biased. There is also fear that the digital revolution will harm women workers. This paper aims to analyze how did women can get benefits from the ICT development in Indonesia's labor market. Using data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, we analyze distribution of women in labor forces, based on the type of jobs and employment sectors, to understand whether they are benefited or not from the ICT development. We found that distribution of women workers in the four type of jobs (namely (1) Professionals, Technicians and similar workers, (2) Leadership and Management Personnel, (3) Administrative and similar workers, and (4) Sales Workers) and the three sector of employment (namely (1) Finance, Insurance, Building or Land Rental Business, and Company Services, (2) Large Trade, Retail, Restaurants and Hotels, and (3) Buildings), is higher than men. These are the type of jobs and employment sectors that benefited from ICT development. So, although the level of use of technology (internet and mobile phones) among women is still low, Indonesian women in workforces are more benefited from the ICT development, than men.