The GIGantic Potential
Penning down a few thoughts on a Product POV of the Gig Economy in India
What is the Gig Economy?
A gig economy is a market catering to workers employed on a flexible, temporary or contractual basis. The World Bank noted that six percent of the world’s labor force is part of the gig economy. India’s gig workforce is dominated by lower skilled workers compared to global averages.
The Gig Economy in India
There is a huge shift in the traditional perception of the workplace — i.e the employer employee relationship. With remote working as the current norm, India has witnessed a huge shift to gig-able jobs with flexible pay and timings.
With technology platforms like Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, Urban Clap, Upwork, Airbnb, etc., the gig workforce is growing at an exponential rate and promises a bright future for the gig economy as a whole.
Buuuuut…..
On one hand the pandemic has accelerated the growth of the gig economy but on the other hand it has put frontline gig workers in heavy risks in terms of health, safety and job security. Gig workers were severely impacted by the pandemic, especially during the lockdown period of April to June, with employment levels down. Since technology platforms that support Gig work were not equipped to handle the scenario, there was a drop in income levels of Gig workers as well.
Looking at the problem from a technology product perspective, here are some of the pain points that are faced by Gig workers:
- India currently does not have distinct labor laws or public policies in place w.r.t worker protection, consumer rights, and data privacy requirements
- Lack of sufficient opportunities for semi skilled or skilled Gig workers to upskill and grow
- Most of the current platforms see very less participation of women in the gig economy leading to gender pay gaps
- Lack of benefits for gig workers leading to financial instability and uncertainty
- Unfavourable working conditions in some sectors of the gig economy
Who is facing this?
Let us start by describing user personas that pan across different sectors of the Gig economy:
Lata, 37, is a salon and beauty professional who has worked gigs through a technology platform for 5 years now. Lata has 2 children in school and is working to support her husband with household expenses.
Lata was receiving gigs on a regular basis and she was able to buy groceries and basic necessities for her household but the recent lockdowns, owing to the pandemic, completely threw her life off track. She stopped receiving gigs which led to difficulties in running a household and supporting her husband’s income. Lata had to take up odd jobs at neighbouring houses to get by.
The pain points:
- No steady source of income especially during unprecedented times
- No job security
Dinesh, 33, is a mechanic, technician and electrician in a town in Karnataka. He has been taking up small time jobs from his contacts and relatives for over 10 years now.
Dinesh is really interested in his work field but he finds the job monotonous as he has been solving the same issues for a while now without learning anything new. Language and job insecurities are holding Dinesh back from leaving his town and exploring better options.
The pain points:
- Dinesh is not aware of technology platforms that can help him find work. Moreover, most platforms are in English, a language that is largely unfamiliar to him
- Little or no avenue to learn or to up-skill
Now let us move away from the Gig workers to the platforms that provide these opportunities. Some issues faced by most platforms are:
- Verify resources, references and testimonials of gig workers
- Facilitate tools and resources that addresses each customer problem
- Provide training and skill development opportunities
To the drawing board
Real Potential of the Gig Economy**
The gig economy has the potential to serve up to 90 million jobs in the non-farm sectors of India (around 30%) with the potential to add up to 1.25% to India’s GDP through efficiency and productivity gains alone
The majority of gigable jobs are in the Construction, Manufacturing, Transportation and Logistics, and Personal Services sectors; primarily driven by MSME and household demand, with varying frequency of use In the short-medium term, nearly 24 million jobs in skilled, semi-skilled and shared services roles could be delivered via gig, including nearly 3 million shared services roles and around 8.5 million roles meeting household demand
**data from official sources
