Job shift: Gigs get big for white-collar workers, investment hurdles remain

The freelance economy has been booming in 2023

“If I don’t embrace this megatrend now, I’ll lose the race of relevance to the generation entering the workforce,” says Amrit Ahuja, a brand consultant and coach who joined the gig, or freelance, economy in 2019 after working full-time for 30 years.

Ahuja, who describes herself as a “company of one”, worked with various global firms, including Meta India as communications director, before deciding to go independent. In 2023, she had so much work coming her way that she could pick and choose what matched her interest. 

A June 2023 report, “Employment Trends in Gig Sector in India”, by recruitment agency CIEL HR indicates that 55 per cent of the 400-plus organisations surveyed across sectors have started engaging gig workers. In some cases, these workers formed 20 per cent of a company’s total workforce. Also, 57 per cent of the organisations said they were willing to increase the share of gig workers by 2024.

Gig workers registering themselves on job aggregating platforms saw a sharp uptick in 2023. Freelancing site Workflexi saw 34,000 registrations in 2023 compared to 11,000 in 2022 and 3,000 in 2021. Another platform, foundit, witnessed a nearly 163 per cent growth for the white-collar gig economy as compared to the previous year. 

“Gig workers provide businesses with the flexibility to scale their workforce as needed, making it easier to adapt to project demands and fluctuating workloads while potentially saving costs,” says Sekhar Garisa, CEO, foundit (formerly Monster Jobs). 

In 2023, while their numbers increased, white-collar freelance workers also made good money. Their earnings grew nearly 294 per cent from 2022 to 2023, according to gig platform PickMyWork.

Game of skill

Skilled and experienced job profiles were high in demand. Registrations of gig workers on online aggregator Flexiple focusing on the software engineering market doubled in 2023. 

“Since the technology landscape is vast, requirements for niche skills are more frequent versus other functions,” says Karthik Sridharan, chief executive officer, Flexiple. “In 2023, the highest demand category was for artificial intelligence/machine learning and its associated skills of data engineering,” he adds.

One reason that information technology, fintech, coding and data sciences were among the top job profiles registered on platforms this year could be because of the stress in the IT sector. Earlier, content creation, designing and creative writing professionals dominated this economy.

However, the other reality is that IT firms are opening the door to the gig industry. CIEL HR data shows that six of 10 IT firms, including Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and LTIMindtree, engage freelancers. This is up from two of 10 companies in 2022.

Manoj Shikarkhane, chief human resources officer, LTIMindtree, says, “We have established Gigspace, our internal gig platform, which is gaining tremendous traction.” GigSpace currently lists assignments across 17 domains and functions, and has over 400 enrolments from across the globe. Introducing a gig culture internally, he says, increases innovation and employee satisfaction, and results in a more adaptable workforce.

Experience & insurance

The gig industry has also become a space for seasoned professionals who are looking for work-life balance and skill enhancement. 

“This industry is a long-term returns plan. You can’t enter and expect offers lined up,” says Ridima Wali, who works across fields, including content writing and anchoring. “Once you gain enough experience, you can focus on multiple skill sets and manage your time.” 

According to foundit, though 47 per cent of the people on the platform have 0-3 years of experience, 18 per cent are those with 15-plus years in the field. “Seasoned individuals appreciate the autonomy and diverse opportunities provided by gig work, allowing them to leverage their expertise in a variety of projects,” says Kajal Malik, co-founder and chief business officer, PickMyWork. “It reflects a growing acceptance of non-traditional employment models across all career stages in the job market.”

Now, AI is being integrated into gig platforms to match workers with suitable projects, automate certain tasks and enhance efficiency, says Geetha Prabhu, co-founder, Workflexi.

For the growing prospects, experts also credit the digital payments space, a well-established online marketplace, ease of cross-border payments and emergence of firms bringing insurance and other benefits to gig workers. 

The informal industry is thus becoming organised in parts. “The use of blockchain technology for transparent and decentralised gig platforms is being explored,” Prabhu says. “This could address issues related to payment transparency, identity verification and trust in gig transactions.”

Security & accountability

While 2023 brought the gig industry into the mainstream, the emergence of new companies that hire mainly freelancers was at the lowest since 2014. 

Data by Tracxn, a market intelligence platform, shows that 56 firms were founded in the gig space in 2023 – 100 less than last year. The peak year was 2015, when 1,234 firms entered the space. 

For the Indian gig economy, which has seen total funding of $12 billion to date, 2023 was also the driest in a decade. In 2021, there were five  $100 million-plus funding rounds. This year, there was none.

“Economic, industrial and political shifts pose risks to the growth of gig. Work commodification could lead to unsustainable practices,” says Gurugram-based business coach Saurabh Kaushik.

Lack of government recognition and legal framework are the biggest challenges. Although India has over 4,500 startups in the gig space – the second-highest after the US — the sector lacks social security and accountability.

As a result, every firm establishes its structure of payment and incentives. “Sometimes the companies set very low basic pay and lure workers with order-wise incentives. This forces workers to do overtime and take on more burden for a few extra bucks,” says Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers. 

The Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act 2023 could be a game changer. But it is limited to the state. At the central level, there is the Code on Social Security, 2020, which recognises gig and platform workers, but it is yet to be implemented. Platform workers are those engaged by online aggregators such as Ola, Uber, Zomato and Swiggy. The going hasn’t been great for these blue-collar workers.

Salauddin says a unique identity card for workers, a grievance redressal portal managed by the labour ministry and creation of a tripartite board (with representatives of the government, workers and aggregators) are some of the union’s demands.

 Aggregators respond

Strikes by Ola and Uber workers in Pune, by Swiggy’s workforce in Kerala and Mumbai, and by Blinkit workers in New Delhi are attempts by the gig unions to have their demands heard. 

These companies have now been trying to organise an unregulated industry so that their businesses don’t suffer.

“We focus on the workers’ well-being through incentives like comprehensive insurance coverage, doctor consultations and subsidised medicines,” says Prajakta Kanaglekar, vice president, supply chain & customer experience, Flipkart. She says their open communication platform, Awaaz, aims to establish a direct link with the gig workforce.

A spokesperson of food delivery platform Zomato says the firm offers accident insurance coverage of Rs 10 lakh, among other benefits. “We have nearly 2,000 women gig workers on board,” says the spokesperson, adding that Zomato offers two-day period leave to them. “Women gig workers account for 20 per cent of our supply chain,” adds Flipkart’s Kanaglekar.

These are some positives in the gig economy, which is gaining ground, though policies are yet to catch up.

Job shift

 

163%: Growth in white-collar gig economy on foundit

 

34,000: Registrations on Workflexi as compared to 11,000 in 2022

 

294%: Increase in gig worker earnings from 2022 to 2023 on PickMyWork

 

18%: People with 15-plus years of experience registered on foundit

 

Source: Job aggregating platforms