Temporary jobs are here to stay

Flexi staffing has a huge potential in India, and the number of flexi employees is expected to grow to about 9 million in a decade's time

Getting into a top company for work may not be that easy for a fresher, or for a woman who is looking out for a job after a long break. More so, hiring may be only for that particular project — say less than a year. Given the uncertainties in the job market and seasonal changes, some companies too prefer temporary workers over permanent staff.

With the increasing job opportunities in different sectors, and a huge workforce out there to get few jobs, flexi staffing or temporary hiring is gaining popularity in India.

The Indian Staffing Federation (ISF), which was founded in 2011 by leading staffing companies, in its recent report, says that flexi staffing is becoming the job creation engine, and is expected to employ 2.9 million flexi staff by 2018.

Executive Director of ISF, Suchita Dutta, says, “In India, the flexi staffing industry has grown into one of the largest in a very short span of time. Currently, India stands at fourth place after the US, China and Japan with 2.1 million flexi workers. Once it reaches 2.9 million, India will become No. 3.”

Flexi staffing has a huge potential in India, and the number of flexi employees is expected to grow to about nine million in a decade’s time, says Founder and CEO of Wisdomjobs.com, Ajay Kolla. “This would constitute about 10% of the organised workforce. With several companies, especially startups, seeing rapid growth, and the need to augment their workforces quickly, the demand for flexi staffing will see a continued rise in the near future,” he adds.

The Indian recruitment market is worth Rs 40,000 crore and is growing at about 20% every year. About 50% of this comes from flexi staffing that is growing at about 15%. “In India, there is a stigma attached to a contractual or temp job and as such every job seeker wants only a permanent job. This stigma is due to societal pressure and lack of social security in a temp role. But MNCs entering India want to hire staff first on contractual or temp basis before taking them on rolls. So, we try to remove the stigma by ensuring secure elements of a permanent job-like offer letters and salary accounts, among others,” says Kamal Karanth, MD of Kelly Services and KellyOCG, India.

Kelly Services India, which was established in 2001, is one of the leading staffing and recruitment firms in India. “The manufacturing industry accounts for the largest share of flexi workforce and is followed by FMCG, retail, telecom and IT sectors. Internet startups, particularly in ecommerce and last-mile delivery in the last few years, have also provided thousands of temp jobs particularly during the festive season,” he adds.

White-collar workers

Flexi staffing is nowadays moving from blue-collar workers to white-collar workers and even in senior roles and C-level executives. “The hiring has moved beyond manufacturing and construction sector to IT/ITEs, ecommerce, retail, and across startups too. The government is the largest organisation in the country with over 40% of flexi staff. The notion of contract workers among the people is changing. Flexi staffing is a reality,” says Dutta.

She adds, “We must look at responding to the growing need of regulation for this industry. Protection to flexi jobseekers, principal employers, staffing companies are all interlinked when it comes to a tripartite relationship. It’s an industry which employs millions of job seekers every year. Yet, no specific regulation for operating in the flexi staffing industry is in place in India.”

The industry currently follows the Indian labour laws which are applicable to all. The current legal system suffers from a number of shortcomings, more specifically, when looked at from the point of view of the flexi staffing sector, the executive director of ISF says, adding, “Keeping in mind the major legal issues facing the industry, the government should focus on some of the legislative initiatives in select countries creating landmark regulation towards recognition of flexi staffing. Finland, Holland, France and Australia too have implemented several new norms for flexi staffers, improved their working condition and leave norms and safety standards. India stands at only 0.51% flexi staffing penetration in 2015, against global average of 1.6%.”

The recent report of ISF also says that flexi staffing industry can generate gainful employment opportunity for 5.7 million educated unemployed and that 63% of India Inc used flexi staff for greater flexibility in manpower planning. It allows a business to manage transient manpower demand or supply fluctuations due to business cyclic. Mona Cheriyan, President and Group Head (Human Resources), Thomas Cook (India), says, “The very nature of the tourism business is seasonal, and therefore, there is a need for staff which is available on demand and not necessarily on the permanent rolls of the company. Being a service industry, the highest cost for any organisation is manpower and flexi staffing is one of the methods of keeping the costs at an affordable level.”

Women and flexi staffing

Flexi staffing will create more employment opportunities for women. The ISF report says that the flexi staffing sector will provide new opportunities for 8.5 million unemployed women in India.

“Flexi staffing is particularly relevant to women as it helps them align their professional goals with their personal choices. Women who have taken breaks from work and are finding it difficult to get back can explore this option to help them bridge the gap. By working with major employer brands on short-duration projects, they can not only ease themselves back into their working lives, but also gain valuable experience,” says Kolla.

Many sectors seem to adopt the flexi staffing model to augment their workforces. “Flexi staffing is an option that enables companies to handle seasonal and cyclical changes in the labour market easily. With several large companies considering it as ‘rightsizing option’ as well, it is seen to make increasing economic and strategic sense,” adds Kolla.

Experts say that flexi staffing is going to be the one tool that can formalise employment models leading to rapid economic growth. However, the real big battle it needs to win is fighting the unorganised sector, as the organised flexi staffing industry constitutes only around 2-3% of the overall staffing industry.