Enabling platforms for gig workers and their future

A usual morning in a city across India would today include busy delivery partners of gig platforms rushing to deliver their orders even as gig drivers of mobility platforms ferry people to their destinations.

A NITI Aayog report in 2022 said over 7.7 million people were engaged in gig work in 2020-21. The figures are expected to reach 23.5 million by 2029-30.

However, the rise of this new type of work is not without its share of challenges. Zwigato, a recent movie, highlighted the poignant story of one such imagined gig worker and his family.


From a policy point of view, there are many emerging requirements to safeguard the people working in gig roles, according to the NITI Aayog report:

• Access to credit is an important aspect to bring more gig workers into the bracket of formalisation of credit. Credit access for more women is also an important factor.
• Skill development is another area of focus. The report mentioned that the type of gig work varies by skill level with 31% being lower in skills, 47% being medium skilled and 22% being high skilled. The report also spoke about the concentration of medium-skill gig jobs reducing while the others are increasing.
• Given the short tenure of some gig jobs, a hard look at benefits is critical. Insurance and retirement or pension plans with measures for sick leave and such facilities are other important considerations.

The largest gig platforms are trying to address some of the growing concerns regarding long hours and difficult work conditions for gig workers. Zomato’s introduction of shelter rest points for delivery people to rest and relax in between deliveries; Swiggy’s skilling programmes for gig workers and ambulance services to companies such as DriveU offering insurance for their drivers; and Urban Company’s partner ESOP plan are just some of the emerging initiatives. A lot more needs to be done.

There are also solutions emerging that can enable support for gig workers and for their employers, the platforms.
1) Enabling a more seamless process of work:
The entire process of work right from hiring to onboarding is quite different for a gig worker. A 2022 report by Asia Foundation and Sattva Consulting highlighted certain best practices that companies follow — such as multilingual agreements by Swiggy and Zomato, Uber’s partner seva kendras and Urban Company’s partnership with NSDC to train 30,00 new people under PMKVY 2.0 initiative.

Meanwhile, BetterPlace has built a single interface for gig workers from hiring to onboarding, attendance, payroll and compliance, upskilling to workforce fulfillment.

2) Supply of gig workforce:
How do gig workers know about upcoming gig jobs? The Sattva report stated that about 700,000 gig workers were registered on e-SHRAM portal but the demand was much higher. Large platforms follow their own approaches. From Urban Company’s incentive approach for referrals to Swiggy’s focus on advertisements.

LaborNet has set up its Sahi platform to look at the supply side of the problem, to help get the right people for the right gig work, at scale, and also to protect the gig workers’ interest

3)Building trust:
An emerging area of focus is building trust with a largely dispersed workforce.

TRST Score, an HR tech startup, is one such emerging solution for mitigating human risk — and it is not just limited to gig workers. On the gig worker side, companies can upload their work history onto the TRST Score to help maintain records and to mitigate risks in background verification.

More such solutions will need to be developed as work conditions and policies shape up to build better safety and opportunity for gig workers.