Business development executives, field sales executives, last-mile delivery executives, digital promoters and brand promoters are the top jobs that are in demand among recruiters
India has a large reserve of gig economy workers, and many new-age platforms continue to hire independent workers across sectors like e-commerce, technology, food and beverages and home services. However, the pandemic pushed many of them out of work.
Data from the Centre for Monitoring India Economy (CMIE) showed that a whopping 113.6 million people lost their jobs between March and April 2020. As people went searching for new jobs, with many industries being down in the doldrums, the gig economy became their primary focus.
A study report by the NITI Aayog estimates that in 2020-21, 77 lakh workers were engaged in the gig economy. The gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore workers by 2029-30.
About 47 per cent of the gig work is in medium-skilled jobs, about 22 per cent in high skilled and about 31 per cent in low-skilled jobs. India currently has a pool of 15 million freelance workers working on projects in IT, HR, and design.
Additionally, India's workforce is growing by 4 million people annually. As most of them are young millennials, they are showing an increasing preference for gig contracts.
The prevalent start-up economy in the country has also given a push to the gig economy, as hiring full-time employees lead to high fixed costs, and thus contractual freelancers are hired for non-core activities.
According to Taskmo Gig Index, the overall demand for gig workers has increased by 10X last year whereas a 7X increase in the demand for white-collar workers has been observed in the last quarter itself.
A recent report by Taskmo stated that quick commerce, health tech, fintech, and e-commerce were the top sectors in the Indian gig space under which Gen Z and millennials constitute 49 per cent of the gig economy. According to a report, Business development executives, field sales executives, last-mile delivery executives, digital promoters, and brand promoters are the top jobs that are in demand among recruiters as well as gig workers.
As the gig economy works on an outcome-based model, skills and money are directly proportional to each other. Workers can work on different tasks like the rider, the delivery person and content moderation on the same day, So the more diverse skills you have the more income you can generate. Skills like communication, emotional intelligence, listening, quick learning, psychology, adaptability, willingness to learn and empathy will help every gig worker to diversify income sources.
Nowadays workers are more inclined towards the gig economy over full-time employment due to the flexibility and independence it has to offer. Also, it has created better opportunities for teenagers to find more work across the globe and made work more adaptable to the changing needs and demands for flexible lifestyles.
With gigs, teenagers can make lifestyle choices that a conventional full-time job would not allow. It gives them the opportunity to choose when and where to work and at the same time determine working hours according to their convenience.
The gig economy is the fastest-growing part of the workforce, and it is a labour market characterised by short-term contracts or temporary work. Companies in today's digital world are adapting their business models to attract more and more freelancers due to their agility, skillset, and reduced cost.
As per a report by MasterCard, India’s gig sector is expected to increase to $455 billion at a CAGR of 17% by 2023 and has the potential to expand at least 2 times the pre-pandemic estimates. In another estimate by India Brand Equity Foundation, the country is likely to have 350 million gig jobs by 2025, presenting a huge opportunity for job seekers to capitalise and adapt to the changing work dynamics. It will outnumber jobs in various industries such as finance, retail, and construction.
The future of the gig economy is secure due to pioneering companies that are helping reimagine the workforce. As more people continue to opt for the on-demand workforce, the Gig industry is revolutionising the traditional job market.
Founded in 2016, the start-up claims to empower retail investors in India through its application StockEdge
The partnership aims to boost training and certification catering to the constant demand for skilled IT professionals in India
The event was organised in association with knowledge partner PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Freeflow, a start-up incubator and accelerator company
