The gig economy is growing every year at a rapid pace, it is expected to expand to 2.35 crore by 2029-30.
The mutual benefit of companies and workers from the gig economy is a major reason behind moonlighting, mass resignation, and layoff waves. Both companies and workers are now opting for gig work for more work effectiveness and better benefits. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of the gig working model in India, in which around 70% of work was dedicated to blue-collar workers. India’s blue-collar sector is made up of 450 million workers and the Covid-19 outbreak impacted this sector more than any other. As a result, its ecosystem went through a massive digital transformation with the pandemic which catalyzed the digitalization of recruitment and training processes.
The work and recruitment were then majorly dominated by gig economy jobs, where – based on their availability and skills – workers had the flexibility to work across various sectors. This helped in making a better work environment among blue-collar workers and also allowed them an opportunity to maximize their earnings. The COVID-impacted market saw a pent-up demand in sectors like delivery, cab-hailing, errand-running riders, etc, and that made a gig economy another name for blue-collar workers.
Currently, The gig economy is the fastest-growing part of the workforce, and it is a labor market characterized 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.
Hiring demand for the Indian gig economy continues to grow at a rapid pace in the post-pandemic employment market. While digital transformation spurred by the global pandemic is constantly rewriting the marketing scenario, Indian companies are increasingly on the lookout for gig partners to fulfill roles in business development, field sales, last-mile delivery, digital promotion, brand promotion, and micro-influencers. Gig workers are no longer young people looking for a seasonal blue-collar job: they’re professionals who don’t want to depend on one source of income and are always looking for upskilling and better work-life balance. Gig workers are self-employed individuals who do not have an employer and do jobs independently or through gig discovery platforms.
As per the TGI(Taskmo Gig Index), the number of users on the platform increased by 23% month-on-month, while the demand from recruiters noted a 25X growth in January 2023 as compared to last year. It is promising to see that the demand for white collar jobs has increased 7X in the last quarter, and more than 10,000 gig workers have been on-boarded with the majority of white-collar workers. Taskmo witnessed a surge in demand for white-collar gig workers for the roles of administrative assistants, industry experts for e-commerce companies, technical skills workers, analytics, and data scientists.
We are now in the year 2023 and the Gig economy has evolved with time, gig economy is not about low-skilled jobs. White-collar gig workers’ demand is in the surge. Currently around 47 percent of the gig work is in medium-skilled jobs, about 22 percent in high-skilled jobs, and about 31 percent in low-skilled jobs. Overall, the demand for gig workers has increased by 10X whereas the participation of gig workers has increased by 3X in the year 2022 in comparison to the year 2021, according to the Taskmo report. Top recruiters have strengthened their roots across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities such as Indore, Bhopal, Shivmogga, Hubballi, and Vadodara which are picking up their way to gig jobs, while metro cities continue to maintain the growth momentum for gig workers.
