Organised flexi staffing to employ 9 mn by 2025

A study says India is among the top five nations in terms of flexi worker base

The flexi worker base in India is projected to grow to 9 million by 2025, according to a report issued by Indian Staffing Federation (ISF), an apex body of staffing companies in India. The research for the study was conducted by Indicus Analytics.

The study said that India was among the top five nations in terms of flexi worker base, which currently stands at 1.3 million. It said that India was among the five least protected countries when it comes to flexi workforce inspite of having an elaborate regulatory framework.

In terms of the sectors, it has been pointed out that retail, telecom, manufacturing, pharma, hospitality and agriculture sectors were increasingly going flexi The survey said that of the total flexi workforce, 82% people were under the age of 30 years, adding that 27% of Indians joined the flexi workforce due to lack of any alternative opportunity in the formal sector.

The average salary of a flexi worker was around Rs 10,000 a month, according to the research. It was further shown that most flexi jobs in India continued to happen at the lower end of the skill spectrum such as data operations, accounts, sales, back end operations, administration and marketing

Mallikarjun  Kharge, Union Minister for Labor & Employment while unveiling the report said, "I am hopeful that this report and its findings will enable healthy industrial relations and well being of the temporary staffing workforce in India. Even the Labor Ministry is working towards it and we are providing training to almost 13.5 lakhs people till 2011-12 with almost 10,000 ITIs being modernized."

Some of the key recommendations of the study included reducing the clutter of labor laws, all flexi staffing agencies to be registered with a designated central body, and must have minimum capital of Rs 1 crore, legal recognition to the industry and provisions to protect interests of workers, with clear delineation of responsibilities of both staffing agencies and user  companies.

K Pandia Rajan, President, ISF  added that companies need flexibility to remain competitive, and in the absence of the right environment that supports flexibility, work tends to go casual thereby denying the employee a secure job.