The growth of digital labour platforms has been a transformative force in the global economy, reshaping traditional employment structures and creating new opportunities for workers across various sectors. Over the past decade, the advancements in technology and the increased internet accessibility fuelled the rise of digital platforms globally. These platforms organise and facilitate the matching of workers with tasks, either remotely or in specific geographic locations, enabling individuals to offer services ranging from software development and graphic design to transportation and delivery.

The global market for digital platform work has grown exponentially. However, the lack of an internationally agreed definition of digital labour platforms and agreed measurement criteria rendered different figures from official surveys on the prevalence of platform work, ranging from 0.5 per cent in Chile to 4 per cent of total employment in the Philippines, following the methodology and definitions used in the estimation. According to the World Bank, about 154 million and 435 million active workers are on online platforms, and the European Union estimates that 28 million people in the EU work on or through a digital labour platform and the number is expected to reach 45 million people by 2025.

Reflecting global trends in the digital labour market, platform work in Cambodia is a relatively recent but growing phenomenon, driven by increased internet connectivity, burgeoning technology sector and government initiatives. While specific statistics on employment within Cambodia's digital platform economy are limited, the sector's expansion has led to the creation of numerous jobs in IT, e-commerce, and on-demand transportation and delivery. In 2019, an estimated 251,000 women and men worked as drivers, representing 3 per cent of total employment. The proportion of these workers who engage in online platforms is not known, though it is thought to be on an increasing trend.