Report on Gig Workers
Recently the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has released the report on gig workers.
The report underscores the fact that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of organizations surveyed employed gig workers in 2022.
In the year 2020, 57 percent of organizations employed gig workers.
The main reason behind organizations adopting the gig model for technical roles has been the emphasis on specialized skills, demand for personnel and cost reduction. Earlier this model was limited to human resources and collaborative work.
Gig Economy:
- The gig economy is a free market system with temporary contracts and organizations contracting freelance workers for short-term engagements.
- The top three segments for gig planning are software development, UI/UX design, and data analysis.
- However, in organizations with more than 2,000 full-time employees, the proportion of gig workers is less than 5% of the total workforce.
Labor Code for the Gig Economy:
- The Wages Code, 2019 provides for a universal minimum wage and minimum wages for gig workers (including in the organized and unorganized sectors).
- Gig worker has been defined in the Social Security Code, According to this, a gig worker is one who performs or participates in the functioning of the organization and earns income from such activities outside the traditional relationship of the employer-employee.
Importance of gig economy
- Not much investment is required to start/run a company. Hence, it has immense potential for employment generation in India.
- Such platforms provide a choice of customized and customized work for women and specially for persons with disabilities.
- It reduces costs and expenses, as it provides organizations with the option of employing personnel outside their offices.
- This reduces the need to spend more on maintenance of offices.
- It provides an opportunity to the people to earn extra income. This increases the per capita income.
Challenges before the gig economy
- Technology diffusion: Lack of equal access to internet services and digital technology acts as a restrictive factor.
- Insecurity of employment: Lack of security of employment, irregularity in getting salary and precarious position of employment for the workers.
- Lack of formalization: Sickness also presents challenges such as paid leave, access to health care and lack of insurance cover.
- Stress: There is no future security of planning and performance appraisal of personnel based on ratings are also other challenges.
Source – The Hindu
