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Why gig economy is no more just about blue-collar workers or traditional sectors

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Why gig economy is no more just about blue-collar workers or traditional sectors

Pranay Suyash, co-founder of MedPiper Technologies, a Bengaluru-based healthtech startup, was looking for a cyber security engineer to secure his website. “We are a small startup; so, someone suggested hiring a freelancer through BeGig (an online marketplace connecting freelancers with enterprises). They sent potential profiles in a day and found the right person for the job,” he writes in a testimonial on the BeGig website.

Similarly, Abhishek Pisolkar, a software developer, was thinking about finding a new job but instead tried freelancing on the side. “I was surprised to see the type of work available and what clients were paying. BeGig has a great support team to guide you along the way,” he adds.

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Pisolkar, like many others, is part of a burgeoning segment of the workforce that has come to be known as the gig economy, a free-market system that primarily uses digital platforms to connect freelancers with customers to provide short-term services or asset-sharing.

As a concept, the gig economy is not new, but if latest trends are anything to go by, it is no more just about blue-collar workers or traditional sectors like retail and transportation. We will look at some of the trends that have marked the sector in recent times.

On a rapid rise

As per a Niti Aayog report titled ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy’, the Indian gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million workers by the year 2029-30, which is nearly a 200% jump from the current 7.7 million. “The rapidly burgeoning gig workforce is ushering in a new economic revolution globally. India—with its demographic dividend of half-a-billion labour force and the world’s youngest population, rapid urbanisation, widespread adoption of smartphones and associated technology—is the new frontier of this revolution,” the 2022 report adds.

The Indian gig workforce, with its hockey-stick growth, will generate $250 billion of work, says Rajat Kohli, partner at Zinnov, a global management consulting and strategy advisory firm. “Over the last few years, this spurt has been driven by the three ‘Ps’—1) Pandemic: When many employees lost their full-time jobs during the pandemic, they turned to the gig economy as a source of temporary employment and interim income; 2) People: In the post-pandemic construct, more and more employees prefer remote work options, which are enabled through gig employment; and 3) Platforms: Multiple platforms such as GIG-A-Opportunities have been set up that act as safe mediators to connect gig workers to enterprises,” he adds.

India has faced a major job crisis post Covid-19 and there is a rise in the need for supplemental income. “Eventually, people shifted to the latest trend, the gig economy. Benefits of the gig economy like flexibility in work, efficiency, additional income to impoverished populations, improvement in productivity by ‘reducing idle and unproductive time’, a ‘new business model’ for ‘the growing demand for on-demand taskers’, etc, are being counted and listed,” says Prashant Janadri, co-founder of Taskmo, a Bengaluru-based tech-driven gig discovery platform that helps large businesses, corporations, personal brands and even start-ups by employing gig workers to perform tasks.

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Platforms enabling jobs

Like Taskmo, several other tech-enabled platforms have come up to facilitate temporary or freelance jobs that make up the gig economy. For starters, Gurugram-based BeGig helps skilled tech professionals find their first gig by connecting them with companies and projects that are the right fit for their skills and experience. “We also help them to create a better profile and portfolio, so they can stand out from the crowd and get noticed by potential clients,” says Shilpa Jain, CEO and founder of BeGig.

But it’s not just about finding work. BeGig also engages a community of its freelancers to support each other and share tips and advice on how to be successful in the gig economy. “For larger projects, we enable them to create gig teams through our community engagement,” adds Jain.

According to Trina Das, founder and chief of growth at GigChain, a Gurugram-based enterprise technology solution for companies to get location-based workforce, there are hundreds of thousands of companies in India with workforce-intensive last-mile processes. Yet hiring, training and management of blue-collar workers are painful. On top of that, most companies are unable to justify the amount of work done versus the salaries of these workers which results in poorer pays, inhumane working conditions, mental stress and disrespectful treatment for the blue-collar workers. India, being the biggest source of workforce with 100 million of its youth having declared themselves as NLET (Not in Learning, Employment or Training) can fulfil workforce needs of global companies at scale,” adds Das.

Startups supplying workers to some of the celebrated unicorns like Byju’s, Unacademy, Flipkart and Amazon have emerged as a significant driver of the gig economy in India. “Their success shows that the gig economy really works and fits the future of work. They hire gig workers in both skilled and unskilled jobs to reduce costs. Startups are also one of the largest suppliers of gig workers operating in over 100 cities. Gig workers also fit in the constantly changing market demand which is comparatively tough with permanent workers,” says Janadri of Taskmo.

Layoffs fuelling growth?

The mass layoffs in recent times follow close on the heels of the hiring frenzy that we witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The development comes at a time when companies, especially tech, are seeking to lower their headcounts with a view to strengthening their balance sheets. So, are the layoffs across sectors pushing companies and young talent towards the gig economy to fulfill their work requirements? Yes, says Jain of BeGig. “The recent wave of layoffs in India has led to more people turning to the gig economy for work. At BeGig, we’ve noticed a surge in people signing up to find freelance projects as a result of these layoffs. With traditional jobs becoming less stable, many people are finding that gig work is a great way to earn a living and support themselves,” she adds.

The recent mass layoffs have caused rising insecurities among employees, pushing them to explore gig work as an active alternative. “This model provides them with high-paying, multiple short-term jobs. On the other hand, companies are increasingly exploring the gig model to fulfil their requirements at short notice post mass layoffs. Since the layoffs in November, India has witnessed 5x demand for the gig workforce from organisations. In fact, the post-layoff employment market is seeing an upward trend in gig hiring,” says Kohli of Zinnov.

As per a report by Taskmo, the number of users on its platform increased by 21% in January this year, while the demand from recruiters noted a 5x growth. In February, the number of users rose by 17%. “Given the fall of the start-ups, another population of laid-off employees chose to try their luck in yet another emerging employment trend—the gig economy. There are around 15 million gig workers in India and the sector is rapidly growing satisfying the most preferred working styles of millennials, Gen Z and Y. As India moves toward becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2025, the gig economy serves as a building block that helps the economy achieve the final goal of eradicating the gap between unemployment and income,” adds Janadri of Taskmo.

As per Kohli of Zinnov, an analysis of over 110 tech companies revealed that over 36,000 employees were laid off in the first three months of 2023 in India. “These companies are highly inclined towards working with the gig workforce due to favourable factors such as short-term contracts, reduced CAPEX in business operations, and easy scaling and descaling of teams,” he adds.

Beyond blue-collar workers

As per the foundit Insights Tracker (formerly known as the Monster Employment Index) released by foundit (previously Monster APAC & ME), a talent platform offering comprehensive employment solutions to recruiters and job seekers, for the month of March, white-collar gig workers were in high demand marking an 11% annual growth in job postings. “As the future of work changes simultaneously with emerging tech, gig workers are taking the centre stage when it comes to organisational demand. While employers are following a cautious and strategic approach amidst current socio-economic uncertainties, several high-priority roles are fulfilled through gig workers. Moreover, huge participation, almost 24% of freelancers from India, are reported in global roles,” the tracker notes.

Industries such as IT (22% share), recruitment and staffing (18% share) and education and edtech (13% share) account for the largest share of demand for gig jobs. Top gig roles that have seen considerable engagement as per the tracker include recruiter (15% share), coder/IT consultant (12% share), content creator (9% share), data analyst (7% share), and UX designer (3% share).

Commenting on job trends for March 2023, Sekhar Garisa, CEO of foundit, says, “It is interesting to see the continued growth of the gig economy in the Indian white-collar space, as companies look at easier onboarding processes and higher cost savings. We have certainly seen newer trends emerge over the last few years with constantly evolving workplace preferences and a greater focus on employee well-being. Tech disruptions such as the most recent ChatGPT are revolutionising and paving new paths for every industry. It is important to note that such technologies hold the potential to create employment opportunities, re-iterating the crucial need for upskilling – not only for entry-level professionals but the entirety of the Indian workforce.”

For Taskmo, white collar gig workforce demand has increased 7x in the last quarter. More than 10,000 gig workers have been onboarded during the same time with the majority being white-collar workers. “The white-collar gig economy is gaining momentum in comparison to blue-collar, and numbers are expected to only grow with time. People with advanced and competitive skills don’t mind working independently and for short-duration gigs, especially when they have the advantages like flexibility and independence,” adds Janadri.

Not just a metro phenomenon

Incidentally, the demand for gig workers is on the rise and expanding and coming from different parts of the country, especially tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and not just from the metros. With increasing Internet penetration and access to digital platforms, gig work has become more accessible and feasible for individuals in these areas. “Digital platforms and online marketplaces provide a way for gig workers to connect with clients and customers, offer their services, and receive payments digitally. Factors such as diverse skill sets, localised service needs and cost efficiencies have made it a popular phenomenon adopted by companies and local businesses. For individuals in smaller towns, the opportunity and access to remote work, flexibility and work-life balance and a means of economic empowerment make it a lucrative option,” says Gautam Bali, managing director of Vestige Marketing, a leading direct selling company dealing in wellness products.

The direct selling industry has been pioneering the concept of gig economy for a long time, especially in tier 2 and 3 cities. “At Vestige marketing, we enable our partners to work on their own terms as a means of balancing their personal and professional responsibilities and granting them financial independence. The pandemic gave an added push to the concept, where youth and women chose this as an option to start their entrepreneurial journey and also as an option for alternative income,” adds Bali.

Post mass layoffs, talent acquisition teams are not restricting themselves to metropolitan cities for their talent needs. They are increasingly leveraging tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Vadodara, and Ranchi, across full-time employees as well as gig workers. “Companies are expanding their geographical footprint beyond tier-1 cities by setting up offices in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. A case in point is Persistent Systems, which opened its new delivery centre in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, attracting both full-time and gig workers. More offices are expected to open in the state,” explains Kohli of Zinnov.

Fair share of women

Around 10% of GigChain’s ‘giggers’ are women. “It was surprising for us to notice women (mostly mothers and mothers-in-law) enrolling for gig work to use up a few free hours of their days to proudly earn a significant amount of money for their family. This was quite unimaginable for us at first and we were taken by surprise. The women actually perform better as people listen to them more, do not keep them waiting and they prove to be delivering higher quality of gig work in a respectable working environment,” adds Das.

The gig model enables a flexible remote working environment for employees. “Hence, it has a significant push in terms of newer opportunities for women to excel in the space. This pans out well for enterprises as it will help increase their workforce diversity and achieve their ESG goals,” adds Kohli of Zinnov.

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