Gig workforce to expand to 23.5 million by 2029–30, says Economic Survey

Companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Uber, Ola and the like are some of the biggest employers of gig workers in the country.

There will be a total of 23.5 million, or 2.35 crore, gig workers by the end of 2029-30, up from 7.7 million (77 lakh) in 2020-21, the Economic Survey 2024 released on July 22 said.

A person who does temporary and/or freelance work for more than one company at the same time on an informal or on-demand basis is categorised as a gig worker.

At present, about 47 percent of the gig work is in medium skilled jobs, about 22 percent in high skilled and about 31 percent in low skilled jobs.

Trend shows the concentration of workers in medium skills is gradually declining and that of the low and high skilled is increasing, a recent NITI Aayog report said.

Gig workers are not entitled to perks such as insurance and gratuity like on-roll employees. Companies such as Urban Company, Zomato, Swiggy, Uber and Ola are some of the biggest employers of gig workers.

As these companies grow in size, so will the total number of gig workers.

By 2029-30 when the total base increases to 23.5 million gig workers, they “are expected to form 6.7 percent of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1 percent of the total livelihood in India by 2029–30,” the economic survey showed.Follow our live blog for the latest on the Economic Survey 2024

The survey is presented a day before the government presents the Budget.

Even as the base increases, there are still challenges that companies need to iron out. “The gig economy may open up employment opportunities for various sections of workers, including youth, persons with disabilities, and women. A significant issue in the Indian context and globally has been the creation of effective social security initiatives for gig and platform workers,” the pre-budget document said.

Also read: Economic Survey pegs FY25 GDP growth at 6.5-7%

While there are policies such as the Code on Social Security (2020) in place, more needs to be done.

“An ongoing challenge facing many pension systems is the inclusion of gig workers and those in the informal labour market. In many economies, the labour market is fracturing; therefore, the stable or structured employer-employee relationship is disappearing. In such circumstances, pension arrangements must become more individually focused and less reliant on third parties,” the economic survey added.