Gig economy will continue to evolve with rise of digital economy

By Mayur Sunit Saraswat

What is driving gig economy in India?

Rising internet penetration, a drop in data access costs, a shift to smartphones, growing middle class, urbanisation, demographic shifts, and people making un-conventional lifestyle choices are some of the reasons driving gig economy in India.

Will gig economy stay or stumble in the coming times?
Gig economy is still in its infancy in India. While it will continue to grow, the number of people working within gig economy would still be lesser than the conventional form of employment at any given point of time. India which has largely non-formal jobs – will first see a transition to formal jobs and that shift and growth would be significant as compared to the gig economy. Given the socio-economic context of India; gig may not be the first choice of job for a skilled professional –as people prefer jobs that guarantee steady monthly income and job security.

What challenges could giggers face?
Historically Indians have been used to concept of job for lifetime. Hence some of the challenges that giggers will face is not having permanent jobs, not being able to secure a pay & wage premium in line with their experience and expectation, not having regular monthly income as they may not have project and engagement on an ongoing basis, not having social security and rights of an employee.

How are Tier II and Tier III cities catching up with this trend?
Technology is bridging the gap of physical distance and skilled candidates in Tier II and Tier III will be benefited by this trend.

Will a country like India be able to sustain the culture of gig economy?
India’s problem is largely around having formal jobs and also ensuring there are right skilled people available for the jobs that exists today. From a size perspective, gig economy is still in its infancy in India and will continue to evolve with the rise of the digital economy. However, in a country like India it is unlikely that they will become the largest source of employment or job creation in near future. It will have its own impact from a socio-cultural perspective by providing an alternate lifestyle and livelihood option for people who are seeking flexibility, variety, experience and greater work-life balance.

Gig economy v/s regular jobs. What is the present state at different organisations?
In India employees/candidates typically prefer regular jobs over gig – especially at entry-to-mid levels. Experienced and skilled people who are financially secure and/or prefer working independently and are in-need of work life balance are the ones who are showing inclination to join the gig economy. Companies do engage freelancers but in general companies in India has a limited preference – but it may change in the near future given that gigger may prove cost-effective for certain kind of jobs like web-designing, content writing & editing and digital marketing etc.

Which sectors are adopting it quickly and why? Which roles are popular among freelancers?
IT companies (coding, testing), digital marketing ( web designing, social media marketing ), legal (claims investigators, consultants), medicine (prescription reader, transcriptionist) Service (data entry clerks, freelance workers), education (SME, translators), hospitality (tour operators, event planners, freelancers), real estate (property consultants) and short-term consulting (functional/domain/process)

Are there any policies that safeguard employers and employees in gig economy? What is legal redressal in case of conflict?
Since the relationship will not be of employee and employer hence the gigers will not be able to claim employee rights. Any redressal would be taken care by legal contract (if it exists) between the concerned parties and which can be invoked in case of a conflict.

What happens to employee care aspects like PF, leaves, medical etc?
Since there is no employee employer relations, and most gig engagement would be short-term project based assignment; typically they would not include employee care aspects like PF, leaves, medical etc.

The author is Head of North Business – TeamLease Services
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