Micro-digital income is reshaping work patterns across Asean

ACROSS Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, millions of people are participating in a quiet economic shift.

They are weaving small, paid digital tasks, such as data annotation and image tagging, into the margins of their day. This is the rise of micro-digital income, a new layer of household resilience taking shape across Southeast Asia.

The trend is unfolding in one of the world’s most digitally active regions. South-east Asia’s Internet economy exceeds US$300 billion, driven not only by e-commerce, but also by high-frequency, low-value digital participation.