While gig work has been on a rise globally, it is a relatively new trend in India that is creating unconventional employment opportunities for workers from different age groups and economic backgrounds who are looking for online jobs, freelance projects, home based online jobs and consulting assignments among many others. It involves a large segment of workers such as self-employed, freelancers, consultants, part-time workers and independent contributors providing them skill-based assignments or need-based tasks. It gives them the liberty to choose their own working hours, departing from conventional full-time roles.
Technology has enabled brands like Big basket, Swiggy, Ola and Urban Clap to create a business ecosystem that relies heavily on these gig workers. With improved connectivity and increasing demand from consumers, these digital platforms are becoming more successful as they offer speed and convenience by consolidating remote and mobile workers. Apart from these, there are freelancing websites that offer freelance jobs for a wide segment of people who are looking for convenience and flexibility.
According to a report by ICRIER, there are 15 million Indian freelancers or gig workers who contribute to about 40% of total freelance jobs offered worldwide. With a rising population of millennials, there are more and more people looking for gig work to ensure better work life balance, flexibility and opportunities to progress. It’s a trend that has opened various opportunities, allowing them to experiment with different industries, roles and even careers.
Gig work allows organizations to engage with the best talent including skilled individuals in the mid to senior level positions who bring critical skills and fresh perspectives to business problems, in a relatively cost-effective way. A skilled gig worker can ensure quality work for the organization in less time and cost by reducing training time and cutting down on overheads that come with hiring permanent employees.
As organizations venture into new areas, the gig economy gives them access to a wider pool of geographically diverse talent, without any long- term commitments. It works especially well for organizations trying to expand into new markets, when they require national or global presence but cannot afford a full- time employee. Gig work is an important trend that is rising rapidly and it is critical for the HR teams to redefine policies to effectively accommodate gig workers as well as full time workers in their manpower planning.
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Clear guidelines and policies must be devised to ensure that the interests of the organization as well as the workers are safeguarded. While permanent employees must continue to work in roles that are critical to the business, organizations must look at creating opportunities for gig workers for freelance project- based roles that require specific skills and expertise. It is important to create a balance, since a stable workforce is extremely critical to any organization to build trust with clients and bring stability to an organization.
Gig work can be a win- win situation for both organizations as well as the workers. While it gives flexibility and work life balance to the gig workers, it gives access to a wider pool of quality talent to organizations and saves them overhead costs. With increasing number of start- ups and organizations looking at diversifying into new markets, it is a HR trend that will rise rapidly and redefine how work is done in Indian organizations.
Meta description:While gig work has been on a rise globally, it is a relatively new trend in India that is creating unconventional employment opportunities for workers from different age groups and economic backgrounds who are looking for online jobs, freelance projects, home based online jobs and consulting assignments among many others.
References:
- Gig Worker is Going to Be a New Trend- Apoorva Bapna, 01 September, 2019
- Gig Economy and the Future of Work- Aditya Gupta, 01 July, 2019
- Gig workers in huge demand! The emerging recruiting trends for Indian businesses- Kunal Gupta, 04 November, 2019
- Gig economy on rise; 70% firms used gig workers in 2018- PTI, 01 March, 2019
