The gig workforce is increasingly bridging the gap between tech demand and supply, driven by the rising need for remote work. The Nasscom-Aon report predicts that India’s gig workforce will grow from 7 million in 2021 to 23.5 million by 2030. This will increase the proportion of gig workers in the total workforce in India from 1.5% in 2021-22 to 4.1% by the 2029-2030 financial year.
Gig workers operate outside the traditional, long-term employer-employee framework. Instead of a steady income like a salary or wages, they receive payment based on completed work. They are classified into platform-based workers, who use apps or online platforms (e.g., Uber, Zomato), and non-platform-based workers, including casual wage workers and self-employed individuals in traditional sectors like tailoring or handicrafts.
The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards flexible work cultures, prompting companies to adopt remote work and explore the gig talent pool. Hiring gig workers helps firms save on recruitment costs, avoid expenses related to full-time employees’ benefits (like vacation and retirement plans), and reduce overheads associated with maintaining large offices. This shift also enables employers to tap into a broader talent base, regardless of geographical location.
Globally, the gig economy is expected to reach a gross volume of $455 billion by 2023, up from $368 billion in 2021. In India, there is a noticeable increase in organized sector gig work compared to a decline in the unorganized sector, reflecting a growing trend towards investing in gig workers.
Source: NITI Aayog
Industries such as pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, and technology are major users of gig workers, leveraging their expertise to meet tech goals. Troogue.ai, a gig working platform, reports that about 85% of the work on their platform is outsourced by Global Capability Centers (GCCs) to gig workers or contractors.
According to job portal foundit.com, IT-related gig work has risen to 30%, up from 12% as of the end of March. Key skills in demand include software development, data analytics, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and UI/UX design. Dinesh Chandrasekar, Chief Strategy Officer at Centific, notes that the focus of gig work has shifted from data labeling to prompt engineering, which enhances AI systems.
Trust between gig workers and employers is improving, with longer project durations becoming more common. Kapil Joshi, Deputy CEO of Ques Corp, observes that the average tenure for freelance projects has increased from 9 months to over a year since the pandemic, indicating growing trust in freelance coders for larger projects.
Looking ahead, more opportunities for gig work are expected as companies aim to reduce costs. Sanju Ballurkar, President of Experis (a Manpower Group subsidiary), suggests that gig work is increasingly seen as an efficient way for non-tech companies to handle tech tasks without investing in full IT teams. Manpower Group reports a 10% growth in demand for IT gig work compared to the previous year, highlighting the expanding role of gig workers in the tech sector.
