Over the last three years, the adoption of the on-demand gig model has grown significantly due to a shift in how enterprises delegate work and talent or jobseekers approach work.

A report released by work-as-a-service platform Awign, titled ‘The Power of Gig: Shaping the Future of Work’ suggested that there has been a 13X increase in demand for gigification compared to pre-pandemic levels. ‘Gigification’ refers to breaking down critical work into smaller tasks, thus eliminating the challenge of talent utilization.

According to the report, Awign’s data suggests that companies in e-commerce, fintech, health tech, edtech and quick commerce sectors have been leading demand for gigification in recent years. Enterprises are delegating the fulfilment of critical hyperlocal and digital work such as business development, auditing, invigilation, telecalling, content and data operations, which have emerged as the top areas of work fulfilment since the pandemic. 

The company also reported a 148 per cent increase in demand for gigification of digital work in FY22 compared to FY21, highlighting the trend of digitalization and accelerating growth of the digital economy. 

Talking about the findings of the reports, Annanya Sarthak, co-founder and CEO, Awign, said that in the last few years, there had been a radical shift in how stakeholders, both enterprises and individuals choose to work.

“While the on-demand model was assumed to be limited to consumer-facing blue-collar work prior to the pandemic, today, rapid adoption of the enterprise-gig model is revolutionizing the execution of grey-collar and white-collar work. Enterprises enjoy effectively utilising human capital for work fulfilment, while job seekers find meaningful and accessible work opportunities without any barriers,” she noted. 

Interestingly, there is an increasing influx of talent who prefers to work on a task-based or project-based model, wherein access to work, flexibility and financial independence are steering India’s workforce dynamics. 

Awign’s data in the report shows that 55.6 per cent of its gig workforce are aged between 18 to 25 years, as they are more agile and prefer flexibility in work. The company has also witnessed the rising participation of gig workers from Tier 3 cities, showcasing the geographical penetration of enterprises and work opportunities in India. 

As of December 2022, 41.3 per cent of Awign’s gig workforce came from Tier 3 cities, while 35.6 per cent and 22.9 per cent came from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, respectively. Moreover, Awign has observed almost 3X growth in registrations from women gig partners in FY22 compared to FY21, emphasizing the accessibility for women to enter or re-enter the workforce, and gain financial independence based on their own flexibility and convenience. 

The report also suggests an almost 240 per cent increase in participation of high-skill or white-collared workers in the gig economy last year, with demand for tech roles such as full-stack developers, data scientists, react and java developers, mobile app developers and cloud engineers. 

The report also slates retail operations, merchandising, market intel & consumer insights, consumer product testing, AI operations and on-demand knowledge as the next areas for gigification, to be significantly driven by tech-based enterprises.