Hiring of gig workers gains steam! Survey reveals 1 in 4 likely to be contractual this year

A joint survey conducted by Confederation of Indian Industries, recruitment business company Taggd and Sunstone Eduversity has revealed that at least one out of four individuals hired in 2021 may be a gig worker or contractual employee, The Economic Times reported.

Almost a quarter of the workforce is expected to be gig or contractual-type in 2021 with the IT, pharma and GICs contributing as much as 30%  to the overall numbers.

Companies are intending to hire at 20% higher rate this year with domains like pharma, manufacturing, IT, BFSIs and internet business leading the recruitment process.

A shift in approach of hiring managers and the management was also highlighted in the survey.

“One is that work can still happen even if an employee is not sitting right at office and second, almost every business has got sensitised towards building sustainable profitable businesses. Both these mindset changes are the reasons why there is a visible increase in hiring for the gig and variable workforce in non-tier-I cities,” said Devashish Sharma, president of Taggd.

Hiring in smaller cities have also gone up with with ‘work from home’ becoming the latest norm of 2021.

“Intent of companies to hire from these cities is going to be over 52% compared with 46% last year. More than 2.2 lakh people likely to be hired by the IT sector in 2021, about 25% more compared with 2020,” the survey pointed.

Taggd conducted the survey with a sample size of 200-plus companies and the data revealed rising demand for technical, digital and soft skills amongst recruiters as they hunt for suitable employees in 2021.