Centre should pep up buoyant gig economy

The gig economy, which is all but a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs, has emerged as a workplace game-changer. Gig delivery workers play a prominent role in the seamless delivery of goods across categoriesforvarious tech-enabled businesses. India’s growing network of gig delivery workers is estimated to be around 7.7 million and is expected to increase to 23.5 million by 2029-30. The number actually varies, as, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group, India’s gigworkforce presently comprises 15 million workers employed across industries such as software, shared services and professional services.

India is known for its multiculturalism and rich diversity. Its gig economy in the delivery profession has drastically changed with the entry and scale of multiple players. There is, therefore, a need for a deeper understanding of this profession that can help solve various pain points.Consider what a recent survey done by Borzo, a global delivery service that enables intra-city delivery for businesses, using highly advanced algorithms to enable affordable, fast and precise delivery for the mass market, reveals. Approximately, 57 per cent of gig delivery workers have a job other than performing only deliveries while 43 per cent are into it full-time. Nearly 36 per cent of them choose to stay in the delivery profession as they can get good emoluments, while 10.5 per cent prefer flexibility to log in and log out which acts as a motivator for them. Nearly 56 per cent of gig delivery partners work in tandem for multiple service oriented companies like Blue Dart, Delhivery, Blink it, Swiggy Instamart and Big Basket. Food and grocery products are the largest delivered items but 32 per cent gig partners prefer delivering documents as they are ‘easy to handle’. Again, 56 per cent of workers find the job of being a delivery partner absolutely satisfying despite catering to multiple apps and consider it to as a lucrative profession.

Interestingly, 84 per cent of them prefer local languages while delivering orders and 82 per cent prefer local language for online interaction on the delivery app.

With the gig economy growing and progressing at such a rapid pace, there are many who think that the government, on its parts, has a crucial role to play in this whole exercise. For instance, the government may think in terms of investing in education and training programmes for gig workers to improve their skills. Some initiatives may also be taken to encourage innovation in the gig economy by providing tax incentives, funding and other support to companies that are creating new business models and technologies. There is also a need to build the right physical and social infrastructure that supports engaging women in the gig workforce and the government may actively look into that aspect.