How GIG workers are changing the industry for the better?

The gig is the most cost-effective and efficient solution for the personnel requirements of companies in light of this ever-increasing demand for casual workers owing to the explosion of digital platforms in the service space. Therefore, the unprecedented boom in the gig economy can be attributed to the developing need for organizations to have a flexible workforce as well as the normalization of hybrid and remote working cultures.

On account of the above, ETHRWorld in association with BetterPlace organized a forward-looking roundtable discussion wherein business leaders and seasoned HR professionals came together to decode how gig workers are transforming the industry for the better.

Apeksha Kaushik, Senior Content Producer, The Economic Times, moderated this illuminating session. While moderating, Kaushik said, “The gig economy has ballooned in recent years as technology innovations arrive to tackle nearly every facet of the global industry. With the hybrid and remote work culture becoming the mainstream, a newly discovered pathway has opened up for both employees and employers. These new-age workplaces have given a much-needed push to the gig economy leading to many unusual opportunities for organizations and individuals which is not bounded by geographies anymore. The lack of labor capacity in skilled workers and the rise of the gig economy suggest one core constant: the nature of work is changing and businesses need to be prepared to support that change.”

Decoding India’s booming gig and platform economy

 Putting the unprecedented growth of India’s gig economy to perspective, Sunil Ranjhan, SVP & Director HR&MS, LG Electronics Ltd, said, “This wave of gig economy the world is witnessing today will evolve into a mini tsunami within the next 3-5 years. The growth in the gig labor force will explode in the days to come. Currently, India has about 7.5 million gig workers. Given the exponential growth of the gig economy, this number is expected to increase up to 25 million within a span of 5-7 years. In other words, from being 1.5% of India’s total working population, the share of gig workers can potentially increase up to 5%.” Analyzing the key factors that will expand the gig economy even more in the future, Ranjhan opined, “As the basic premise and the paradigm upon which the work was being structured changes, we will see much more unpredictable gyrations in our economy that will prompt industries to either scale up or reduce the workforce. Having gig workers in the employee base will give organizations the flexibility required to survive in the future of work. Additionally, the Indian government will soon announce new labor codes that will enable organizations to hire temp/gig workers in areas where their recruitment was not allowed by the law.”

Highlighting the three driving forces behind the gig boom, Amit Chincholikar, Global CHRO, TATA Consumer Products Ltd, said, “Three parameters are defining this boom in the gig economy, viz. Flexibility, technology, and seasonality. Hybrid and remote working has made the job of gig workers more flexible while the technology aspect has widened the gig workforce by incorporating job-seekers from tier-2 and tier-3 cities into the talent pool. The seasonality parameter, which is an extension of the flexibility aspect, is also a key facilitator of gig economy’s growth in India as it enables organizations to scale up the workforce temporarily during the period of boom in the business cycle.”

Contributing his insights to the discussion, Nilabh Kapoor, COO- Workforce Fulfillment & Enterprise Operations, BetterPlace, said, “The democratization of technology and its widespread adoption has propelled the gig economy. Tech platforms have enabled organizations to aggregate consumer demand and simultaneously maintain a team of gig workers to ensure that individual orders are served within the stipulated timeframe. On the other hand, online job portals have unveiled a bouquet of employment opportunities for gig workers, thus providing flexibility and financial stability to them. Variabalization of demand is another factor that contributes exponentially towards the booming gig economy. Organizations have come to terms with the fact that they require a flexible and scalable workforce that can be altered as per the varied consumer demand scenario.”

Redefining the industry’s position toward gig workforce

How to set up effective workplaces for temp/gig workers? Ranjhan replied, “In hindsight, gig workers have always been a part of the workforce either as temps or as contractual workers. Therefore, managing the gig workforce has always been in the shadows of the HR department. However, in order to develop an effective workplace rather than mere outliers. Secondly, all the policies, systems, and practices that a company harbors are oriented towards the permanent workforce. Revamping the organizational policies such that there is some scope left for the aspirations of gig workers is another step that will enable organizations to create a workplace conducive to the development of their gig workforce.”

Sharing his perspective on the same, Chincholikar, said, “There are certain jobs that are temporary in nature while some others are permanent in nature but manned by people who may be temporary in that particular role. While the latter is relatively easier to manage since the job can be pegged at the organizational ladder, the management of people hired to do temporary jobs can be tricky since in the Indian workspace, most of the policies are structured basis the organizational hierarchy. With the advent of the gig economy, organizations need to rethink how certain policies are constructed. The biggest change organizations will need to embrace in order to effectively manage the gig workforce is to break-down things from a policy perspective and integrate policies, systems, and processes for permanent as well as temporary workers.”

The future of the gig economy

 The gig economy puts both employers and job-seekers in a win-win situation by providing a flexible workforce at minimal cost to the former and a sustainable career path to the latter. With the demand for freelance workers increasing and an explosion of digital platforms providing short-term recruitment solutions to organizations, the gig economy is expected to grow further in the days to come. In fact, various reports have suggested that by the year 2025, gig workers will account for 35-40% of the global workforce.

Source: GWFM NEWS