Gig workers deserve employee benefits

The gig economy, a term coined by The New Yorker editor Tina Brown in 2009, was a western concept for the longest time. It was meant to describe workers who were pursuing a bunch of free-floating projects, consultancies and part-time jobs in a digital marketplace. Today, many digital and gig servicing platforms have made the structure of gig jobs more organised.

The Covid-19 pandemic has altered the way businesses operate. Sectors like e-commerce, app-based platforms including food, grocery, medicine delivery, etc. are increasingly hiring gig workers today. At present, India has a pool of ~15 million freelance workers staffed in IT, HR, and design projects.

According to an estimate, India is likely to have 350 million gig jobs by 2025. Data released from gig platforms have also shown that there has been a 3X surge in the participation of women in the gig economy. Given gig is the newest trend in employment and as employees look forward to working at their convenience, the gig is going to grow further.

The established start-up economy in the country has given a push to the gig as well. Contractual freelancers can be hired at a comparatively lower cost for most non-core activities. Post the pandemic, MNCs are adopting flexi-hiring options, especially for niche projects, to reduce operational expenses.

As the gig economy is becoming popular, many of these workers are easily exploited by companies as they lack all the statutory benefits that a usual employee is entitled to. Be it the generation of a PF account or the accessibility of a proper office working environment, the Government of India must implement policies and extend social security schemes to the unorganised sector as well.

Although gig workers are not provided with any statutory benefits, companies still need to look at ways to retain these gig workers. As India awaits the implementation of the new labour codes, companies must look forward and assure job continuity for gig workers, thereby ensuring equity between the big companies and the gig workers. The government should focus on implementing policies that provide a financial incentive and tax concession to the gig marketplaces that help gig workers to secure jobs. India needs regulations to govern the rights and welfare of gig workers.

(The author is a co-founder of a gig marketplace)