Government think tank NITI Aayog shares, India’s gig economy might employ 2.35 crore people by FY30, a three-and-a-half-time growth over the previous ten years.
According to India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work study, which was published on June 27th, the gig economy employed almost 68 lakh people in FY20.
In FY20, there are expected to be 51.10 crore employed people in India. By FY30, the number is predicted to increase to 56.96 crore.
Gig jobs, which are typically transitory and part-time, include everything from delivering food to driving for ride-hailing services like Ola and Uber.
According to the research, “at the moment, around 47 percent of gig employment is in medium level occupations, roughly 22 percent in high skilled jobs, and roughly 31 percent in low skilled jobs.”
“However, the trend indicates that the concentration of workers with medium skills is steadily decreasing, while that of people with low and high skills is rising. According to the analysis, gig work with other talents will likely develop while the dominance of medium skills will likely last till 2030.
The estimate is “just suggestive and may not represent the full number of the gig labour,” it was noted, due to the dearth of employment statistics.
Amitabh Kant, the chief executive officer of NITI Aayog, claimed that the rising popularity of smartphones and the affordable cost of internet access had made it possible for digital platforms to flourish in India, with a variety of players providing solutions in industries like transportation, retail, and personal and home care.
According to Kant, “this evolving situation necessitates the need to examine the job creation potential of the gig and platform industry and devise policy measures that might rekindle efforts from all stakeholders to encourage growth together with quality employment possibilities in this sector.” His time as the CEO of NITI Aayog expires on June 30.
Job work
Those who are working “outside the usual employer-employee structure,” as described in the study, are referred to as gig workers. Platform-based employees and non-platform-based employees make up the two primary types of these workforce.
Platform workers are people whose job is based on online apps or digital platforms, whereas non-platform workers often work either part- or full-time in conventional industries as casual wage workers or own-account employees.
The study urged the statistics ministry to carry out specialised surveys because there was no official data to exactly measure the jobs offered by India’s gig economy.
The report also said that further research is needed to estimate how much of India’s GDP the gig economy contributes.
According to the research, “this effort may also allow India to examine the rate at which platformization is taking place across industries and what enablers and constraints may be contributing to the same.”
Important suggestions
An programme called Platform India may be launched to hasten the platformization of all professions and sectors, to offer finance, incentives, skill development, and social financial inclusion. This could be similar to the Start-up India programme.
According to the research, platform firms in India require a “light-touch regulatory strategy.” Therefore, it is necessary to streamline and simplify policies, rules, and laws. Additionally, any licence specifications for aggregators need to be reexamined.
Platform drivers might be given “supporting tax systems” by the federal and state governments so they can disclose their income and pay “fair” taxes.
Increased institutional credit access should be made available to platform employees. Additionally, they must to be protected by the social security code.
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