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Gig Economy: The Rise of the New Collar Among India’s Working Class

Written by Annanya Sarthak
March 29, 2022

Thanks to the infusion of powerful tech infrastructure and the introduction of work-tech platforms, a formerly informal gig sector is today streamlining itself. The gig economy is gaining traction, and it is likely to continue impacting both individuals and and employers for many years to come.

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Meet Vicky from Kolhapur, who earned almost INR 10 lakh in three years by undertaking gig roles. With his income across myriad gig roles, he was able to pay for his sister’s college fees and buy a car – otherwise impossible with his previous income of just INR 8000. In addition to the monetary benefits and flexible timings, the continuous upskilling opportunities make him choose gig roles over a full-time job.

The rise of individuals such as Vicky speaks to the upsurge of the new collar among India’s working class.

What’s in a number?

Ever since I can remember, our country has had a vast pool of skilled and diverse workforce. Unfortunately, many of these folks lost their jobs during the pandemic as many businesses cut fixed costs to stay afloat. According to CMIE data, 113.6 million individuals lost their employment between March and April 2020—a staggering number indeed.

As we recover from the aftermath of the pandemic, many sectors continue to reel, shy of investing in fixed human asset costs. On the other hand, individuals continue to look for new work. Combining both the gig economy becomes a major focus for enterprises and individuals, as has been the case for the last two years. If we look further back, the last five years, coupled with the pandemic snowballing the process, have seen a rise in enterprises engaging with new collar gig partners for core operational services in addition to short-term work, which has emerged as a solidifying factor for the gig economy. The statistics speak for themselves. Currently, India has a pool of nearly 15 million freelance workers staffed in projects across IT, HR, and design. This workforce is further growing by approximately 4 million annually. With the majority of them being young millennials, they are showing an increasing preference for gig contracts, and this trend is expected to significantly impact the gig economy in the coming years.

The numbers on the hiring side look promising too. Around 84 percent of talent managers in APAC—the highest in the world—are hiring gig partners, and 50 percent of projects with startups, major corporations, and professional services are pointing towards strategy, technology, and marketing as the top three talents in demand. Deep diving further, the top gig-able roles at the forefront are in operations, customer support, transaction operations/processing, and HR. Trailblazing the adoption are the hero sectors—FMCG, pharma, BFSI, manufacturing services, and tech and BPO.

This article was originally published in Forbes India  >

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