Indonesia Conference Directory

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 (1) What is the relationship between the ICT development and the income received by skilled and unskilled workers? (2) How did women can get benefits from the ICT development? Using data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, we conducted a correlation analysis between ICT development index and the average monthly wage of formal workers for eight types of jobs in 34 provinces in Indonesia in the period of 2015-2016. We also did correlation analysis between ICT development index and monthly average net wage for nine employment sectors. Further, we analyzed distribution of women in labor forces to show whether they are benefited or not from the ICT development. This paper shows that ICT development has significant positive correlation with wage rates in 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 three sectors of employment (namely (1) Finance, Insurance, Building or Land Rental Business, and Company Services, (2) Large Trade, Retail, Restaurants and Hotels, and (3) Buildings), that required high education and skill. It means that the industrial revolution is benefiting skilled workers more than unskilled labor. Interestingly, distribution of women workers in the four type of benefited jobs and the three sector of employment is higher than men. 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.