Sambit Tripathy
Significant strides in information technology, increasing usage of smart-phones, dissemination of digital literacy and modes of digital payments have accelerated creation of a new breed of workers. Occupying a space between informal and formal workforce, they are termed as ‘gig workers’ and are a product of a technology-platform based service ecosystem. The potential for the Indian economy has been brought out recently in a report titled ‘Unlocking the Potential of Gig Economy in India’ published by the Boston Consulting Group. The report estimates the gig economy has the potential to serve 90 million jobs (roughly 30% of India’s non-farm workforce) and add up to 1.25% incrementally to GDP growth.
An ideal gig worker is an individual with the flexibility and option to choose when to work and for whom to work. He works for a fixed time, in lieu of pre-negotiated wages/fees. The interface, between a worker and his client, is enabled by a technology platform. It is a self-regulating and self-rewarding ecosystem, where earnings are proportional to the number of hours put-in by the gig worker. In the past, the Jajmani system created a framework of patron-client relationship. Within this personalised framework, largely suited to a rural, agrarian economy, various kinds of service-providers parted with their skills and rendered requisite services over generations, in exchange for goods through a barter system. In a modern urbanised economy, the technological platforms perform the role of a match-maker between a patron and a service provider. This is best captured by functionalities offered by taxi aggregators Ola and Uber. Similar potential in India is spread across sectors such as oil and gas, healthcare and beauty, construction, retail. According to a rough estimate, there are around 200 million blue/grey collar workers in India, who in a way are potential gig workers. The number of workers registered on various digital platforms comes to 10-15 million. These numbers are indicative of the immense scope that exists for scaling up. For this, certain fundamental issues relating to skilling, financial inclusion and capacity-building need to be addressed.
The first issue is bridging the skill divide. It is a fact that students emerging out of formal education or vocational ecosystem are mostly not ‘employable’. The poor quality of pedagogy and training, requires such platforms to invest substantially in upgrading skill sets of those who seek on- boarding onto the respective platforms. This indicates the limitation of the skill-modules being undertaken by government under various sponsored schemes – Prime Minister Kaushal Vikash Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhay Grameen Kaushal Yojana and a plethora of other programmes being run by various ministries. It calls for close coordination with such tech-platform aggregators with respect to devising an appropriate skill curriculum, aligned with demands of the market. This will ensure quality outcomes, avoid duplication of efforts and rationalise out-go with respect to time and resources.
The other related issues are the requirements of re-skilling and up-skilling of existing workforce. This has the potential to be a game-changer, as it will facilitate transition of a large majority of unskilled and semi-skilled workers into more aspirational gig work space. A well designed curriculum, qualified trainers and a credible certification system will have a critical role to play.
The second issue is with respect to supply-side information asymmetry. For instance, there is a huge shortage of good quality welders in the country, and the job commands a substantially higher wage vis-a-vis a normal B.Tech graduate. Outreach programmes aimed at exposing students, dropouts and their parents to myriad opportunities in various sectors will help them in taking informed decisions. This will ensure a matching between the demand for various job-roles and supply of trained and adequate manpower. Sectors like health and wellness, construction, retail and logistics are going to be significant job-generators.
The third aspect relates to providing access to capital. Many in the gig economy space are aspiring micro-entrepreneurs. They would need an initial financial support to equip themselves with tools for delivering services. As most of the workers hail from economically disadvantaged segments, it is imperative that banks and financial institutions support and financially handhold them. Schemes like MUDRA, Start-Up and Stand-up India can be leveraged for this purpose. The wide network of Rural Self-Employment Training Institutes patronised by public sector banks can be used for capacity-building of prospective workers. Creating an appropriate business model, along with imparting training in rudimentary book-keeping, digital technologies and soft-skills will enable them to boost their earnings and also better equip them negotiate various regulatory and legal landscapes.
In times to come, gig workers will come to play an important role in India’s economic landscape. Therefore, it is also imperative to devise appropriate intervention strategies for their welfare, create a reliable database. Flexibility of timing sets women free from the rigidity of 10-5 routine. It will foster greater women participation in labour force. Recognising the potential of the sector, the government has taken a decision to collect information and extend social benefits like ESIC to such workforce. As we go along, the gig worker is going to be a distinct ‘technological class’, beyond the Marxist binary of bourgeoisie and proletariat.
The writer is ex-IRS and CEO, Livelihood Alternatives.