Open Employment 0pportunities in the 'Gig Economy'
Open Employment 0pportunities in the 'Gig Economy'
Mains Exam: General Studies Paper 3
(Gig Economy)
August 01, 2023
Foreword:
- The youth of the world are troubled by unemployment at this time. In a populous country like India, the crisis of employment is more. The process of cutting jobs in the era of Kovid, which started two-and-a-half years ago, has deepened in view of the threat of artificial intelligence (AI-Artificial Intelligence). But the gig economy has provided relief to the youth by promoting employment in the service sector.
Gig Economy:
- It is an economic system in which people work independently and earn decent income.
- Such workers are called gigs, who join a company or organization indirectly, but do not get benefits like permanent employees. The lack of health, accident insurance and retirement benefits for such workers has raised concerns around the world.
- Considerable attention has been given to the gig economy during the Covid pandemic, when workers associated with this economy have taken it upon themselves to keep the world running at a standstill. Although independently some professions have existed much earlier. In these, dozens of activities ranging from writing to photography etc. come under the word 'freelancing' and through these people have been gaining a lot of money, respect and social security-prestige etc.
- Gig workers are a relatively new form of employment which has emerged rapidly in the last decade in the world.
- In fact, employers across the world are working on a new business model popularized by the app-based cab service - Uber.
- If you look at the government data related to this in India, 28 crore 62 lakh gig workers have registered on the country's 'e-labour portal' within a year. The result of this is that by next year, about four percent of the total workforce of India is going to turn into the 'Gig Sector'.
- According to the report released in 2023 by the financial services platform 'Stridevan', instead of fixed jobs in India, contract-based, freelance and part-time services market i.e. Gig economy employed only eight million people in the year 2020-21.
- By 2024, 2.35 crore workers are expected to get jobs related to the gig economy.
- Most of the 'Gig workers' in India are being hired in the service sector. It is followed by education service and media-entertainment. The fifth place in this list is of 'e-commerce' and 'startup'.
- Discussions are underway on how best to protect the interests of gig workers.
- Initiatives of Karnataka and Rajasthan governments to protect the interests of gig workers
- Recently, the Karnataka government announced free health and accident insurance of Rs 2 to 4 lakh to gig workers in the country.
- Similarly, Rajasthan is the first state to introduce the 'Gig Workers Bill' in the Assembly. It seeks to guarantee social security to gig workers. If anyone fails to follow the rules of this act, he can be fined heavily.
- In the recent Indore meeting of Labor and Employment Ministers of G-20 countries, the Prime Minister of India said that the gig economy has unprecedented potential to create jobs for the youth.
- It is noteworthy that in this meeting of G-20, emphasis was laid on giving adequate and sustainable social security, proper employment with health facilities to the gig category employees.
- The biggest impact of the gig economy will be in the country's information technology sector.
- Today's youth are adopting a 'work-life balance' style and have started preferring gig style work.
Advantages of Gig Economy:
- According to an analysis done in 2017, the advantage of working from home at preferred time will be achieved after 10 years due to the rise of 'gig working'.
- Companies will get the freedom to choose gig workers at minimum cost.
- In this, both permanent and temporary employees will be easily available to service and information technology companies.
- Employers will be able to easily get professional and trained workers for special tasks at low cost.
- Working from home has become easier due to faster internet service and technological facilities.
- Time taken to travel to and from an office located away from home and problems like weather and traffic jams can be avoided. This will reduce the chances of polluting the environment.
- Provides a safe environment for women to work.
- It provides an opportunity to generate additional income.
- It is helpful in balancing home and office work.
Disadvantages of Gig Economy:
- Employment in this economy is temporary.
- Gig workers do not get any kind of social security in this economy.
- This economy promotes inequality in wages.
- Just as the government is in favor of temporary recruitment in the army to release them early, similarly private companies are in favor of being free from their obligations towards the employees due to huge uncertainties in the market.
- Due to strict 'hi-tech monitoring', permanent employees are forced to leave the job.
Conclusions:
- Sustainable jobs are declining around the world and technologies such as artificial intelligence have put more pressure on sustainable jobs. That's why many young people may consider a permanent job as a hassle. In contrast, the gig economy, which provides freelancing temporary jobs, may be more appealing to young people as they are in control of work, leave and work-life balance. An important issue related to this is that of social security and health care, which was discussed in the G-20 meeting. If social security etc. benefits are available in gig jobs, then the situation will be better for both the employer and the employee.
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Mains Exam Question
What is gig economy? Discuss its advantages and disadvantages.v