Modern Indian urban life is all about technology based apps. You want a cab, there is Ola or Uber, you want to order food, use Swiggy or Zomato. Movie anyone? Book tickets online. Most of these apps are fueled by people doing gig work. Gig economy these days is run by people (giggers) bringing about a new dimension in technology-based companies’ workspace where people get to choose their own time and duration of work as opposed to routine nine to five jobs.
Historically, the term gig economy came into existence in 2009 when journalist Tina Brown described people pursuing part-time work, project work and consulting jobs in digital workspace as doing gigs. In a way only the nomenclature is new, gig work and gig economy have existed since time immemorial.
In fact, what we understand by traditional jobs, is really a relatively new concept. Before the industrial revolution, people were forced to do a variety of jobs to earn a living wage. Industrial jobs were seasonal and even those days there were outfits providing temporary labor to companies to cover the deficit. Louis Hyman, a historian at Cornell University, has found that companies like Kelly Girl provided women secretaries to big corporations to tide over employment gaps. After the industrial revolution and the demands for employee welfare and benefits, larger corporations started permanent workforce culture and employee benefits.
Gig work gains currency in recessionary times. During the economic slowdown of 1991 when jobs were being cut, an alternative work or gig work market sprang up. Of course after the internet revolution in the mid-nineties, gig work has become really big. The number of people doing gig work has gone up from 12.1 million workers to 14.8 million in the USA, from 1995 to 2005 as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Currently, most of the technology driven companies provide immense opportunities to people to do online work. These companies offer work from home jobs and freelance jobs on site. These jobs are skill specific and allow people to do more than one thing at a time. It is estimated that this ‘mobile economy’ will perhaps be equal to more than half of the total workforce by 2020 and by 2030 it will be 80% globally.
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Gig work is spreading to the entire economy. In developed countries, 20 to 30% of the workforce engages in some freelance work. As per a Mckinsey study, after the US, India is the second largest market of freelance professionals. These professionals have full-time jobs but they also do online jobs from home like freelance writing jobs and online data entry jobs.
Companies that encourage gig work have a different business model where workers doing online jobs are in a position to earn money by choosing their own time . This democratizes the workplace a great deal. Online jobs for students, home-based jobs for young mothers who need to stay at home and freelance projects as a side hustle to shore up your earnings , all of it is now possible as everything depends on skill and expertise needed to do the job.
Some of the tech platforms that facilitate gig work in a big way are UpWork, Fiver, PeoplePerHour and many more. According to a survey conducted by Nobel House, 70% of the Indian companies have used people doing gig work at least once for major projects or organizational work. 45% of HR heads surveyed would like to use giggers to complement their workforce, whereas 39% stated that they would like to use people doing gig work to reduce costs and to fill temporary posts in their organizations.
People doing gig work can not only choose their time, they are also in a position to decide the price. Gig workers have the option of doing a variety of jobs leading to greater interest and increased productivity at work. Online jobs and work from home give giggers the added advantage of going in for higher education and developing new skills as they have the flexibility of time and work. Such workers are more satisfied with their work than the ones holding regular jobs.
Companies supporting gig work are replacing contractual workers through contractual companies. Essentially giggers and companies or people wanting to use the skills offered by giggers are now directly in contact, eliminating any broker in between. Platforms like Upwork offer gig work from lower to higher skill sets. From online typing jobs to higher skills based part-time jobs from home, people can choose what home based online jobs they want to do.
Gig work has its downside too. There is a scope for exploitation of workers by companies. There is no support and security for giggers who are an important part of the gig ecosystem. They do not really enjoy many rights and advantages that regular workers enjoy like pay hikes, sick pay or pension. Most low-skilled giggers doing online part-time work or data entry work are poorly paid and are financially insecure.
They are overworked and their family life and social life suffers as they try to earn a decent living wage. Due to the temporary nature of their work, they are unable to get bank loans or mortgage. Sometimes they do not have the flexibility to choose the place of their work also like Uber drivers who have to go to locations shown by the app. In a way the algorithms of the apps have taken the place of a boss. Above all giggers must find work themselves which can be difficult and time consuming.
Global spread of gig work therefore has thrown up challenges for giggers and companies both. We are all too familiar with stories of Ola and Uber drivers going on strike. Demands of their employees and other challenges are becoming enormous for the app-based companies. Giggers working in these companies have fears of their own. They fear automation (driverless cars, drone delivery) taking away their jobs. Gig work at present has these frictions that need to be addressed.
Much of it can be addressed by having regulations in place. Policies that create a safety net for giggers should get top priority. In India gig work and gig economy is in its infancy, although more and more millennials are attracted to the gig economy. The Indian government in 2015 started a scheme under the Digital India platform. This is a small step recognizing gig work. The rules and provisions have to be clear and unambiguous about protection to gig workers and the benefits they can enjoy.
Despite the obvious advantages and challenges the gig economy and gig work are here to stay.
Reference:
- Gig economy and future of work. Aditya Gupta. July 1, 2019
