Gig Workforce
By Shivaji Sarkar
In an economy struggling to regain momentum, a new threat looms—an exploited class of “slave” workers, lauded by NITI Aayog as gig workers. These low-paid labourers, the fastest-growing segment in India, are trapped in a precarious cycle. Raising their voice against exploitation means risking their livelihoods and pushing their families into starvation.
Ironically, the country’s think tank celebrates this shift to a gig economy—marked by short-term contracts and freelance work over stable, permanent jobs. But for workers, it brings relentless stress, unpredictable schedules, and a lack of basic social security. While companies benefit from a cost-free, unregulated labour force, the human cost is staggering. Lessons from Bangladesh’s collapse point to the perils of such an economic model, as rising anger among the jobless youth contributed to its downfall.
There are downsides for the gig-people and for society, but for companies and their shareholders, this is pure gravy. The term “gig” is a slang word for a job that lasts a specified period of time. Traditionally, the term was used by musicians to define a performance engagement. And who does not know the exploitation of musicians since ages the world over. They are not offered a wage or royalty. There are reportedly instances of multiple abortions to sustain in the rat race.
NITI Aayog estimates that the gig workforce in India, contributing 1.5 per cent of the GDP, would expand to 23.5 to 30 million workers by 2029-30, over 200 per cent jump from 7.7 million in 2020-21. It throws open a system that is anti-worker and is ordained to thrive as it reduces liabilities of the companies. The Aayog recognises that gig work is the worst form of jobs and still promotes it, knowing that it lacks paid sick leave, health and accident insurance, old age support and pension as well as support to workers in a situation of irregularity of work.
The Niti Aayog projects gig economy as a ‘free’ (not exploitative) market system in which temporary positions are common and organisations hire independent workers for short-term commitments. The Aayog says it is marked by “erosion of traditional economic relationships, lack of job security, irregularity of wages and uncertain employment status for workers”. Prior to it, the Aayog led the Labour Ministry to severely compromise with labour laws and replace 44 laws into four labour codes, that only acerbates workers’ woes and redressals difficult.
Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit, Uber, Ola-type organisations are the worst perpetrators leading the agony globally, a system US president-elect Donald Trump and CEO of Tesla Elon Musk promote by cutting work visas. As India rides this wave, the real challenge lies in striking a balance. As the world MNCs navigate new terrain, the future of work in India is being rewritten now – one gig or casualisation at a time by the corporate and the government remains a spectator.
As per the latest available Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Report, the estimated unemployment rate (UR) on usual status for youth of age 15-29 years was 12.9 per cent, 12.4 per cent, and 10 per cent during 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively. The total unemployed in 2016 were 44.85 million or 4.48 crore, supposedly a little less than 48.26 million or 4.82 crore in 2014.
The gig economy, according to official statistics gives an income of around Rs 15,000 a month to a worker in most cases as biggies like Amazon or Blinkit have cut rates for per piece of delivery. Chaos prevails in the society with rising inflation to around 6 to 9 per cent and GDP growth falling to 5.4 per cent. Overall employment in agriculture has fallen and marginally risen in the construction sector.
On 9 July 2024, credit markets rating agency India Ratings says that 63 lakh informal sector enterprises shut down in the country, resulting in a loss of 1.6 crore jobs between 2015-16 and 2022-23. The report blamed the downturn on the shocks to India’s economy due to demonetisation, the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The IT sector is in a thaw and perhaps after Trump takes over there could be serious crunch for Indians as the US could shell out fewer projects. The UPA-I and II started a process of jobless growth. There is no uptick in manufacturing or purchasing power but more in IT sector are now losing jobs. Many with experience of a decade or more are becoming gig workers in their early 40s.
The PLFS showed that between 2017-18 and 2022-23, there has been a decline in the share of Indians employed in salaried jobs, and a corresponding rise in self-employment, that as per ILO now includes “unpaid helpers in household enterprises”.
For the gig economy, a November 2024 Georgia, US, verdict underscores that Amazon digital control – whether by an app, platform, or algorithm – may now bring significant liability. In yet another case, a California court imposes $5.9 million penalty for not informing workers 60,000 times in writing of the tasks they have to perform continuously.
In India, Madurai district consumer commission told Amazon, Samsung and Divine India to pay Rs 2.1 lakh compensation for causing mental agony to buyers of phone. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on 9 December 2024, moved the Supreme Court to expedite the resolution of 24 court cases pending against Amazon and Flipkart.
The very public rise of Zomato-owned Blinkit in particular has caught the attention of the industry, and Zepto’s eye-catching $1 billion has underscored that e-commerce in India is booming with Swiggy, Instamart, Uber or Ola taking a high cut of 40 per cent or more per assignment, adding to the stress of the workers.
There is no robust legislation to address concerns about unfair trade practices and data privacy. The Indian Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises gig workers as a separate category, but it has been criticised for lacking legal mandates, universal coverage, and accountability mechanisms.
The U.S. has the highest global market for gig workers, but India, Indonesia, Australia, and Brazil are rapidly growing strong markets. International experts feel illegal immigrants to the US fall into a trap of forced labour that gives a boom to the US economy. The agricultural industry is one of the most troubling industries, where forced labour is rampant in the US. It assumes the gig is being deliberately promoted for cheap labour. India must move the ILO and other fora for strong global job codes for fair wages in the new employment scenario. — INFA