Despite flexibility gig jobs making work insecure: ILO

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Gig jobs boosted by the pandemic offer flexibility but make work insecure and widen inequality for people who lack adequate access to technology in developing and emerging economies, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The gig workers pool is expanding worldwide in the pandemic due to lower entry barriers but it is fragmenting work leading to income struggle. The uncertainty of whether one will get enough gigs, among other factors, is making gig work insecure, the United Nations body has pointed out in its world employment outlook report.

“In developed countries, workers often do gig work to earn supplementary income whereas in developing and emerging economies gig work is the main source of income. Different kinds of gig work offer varying degrees of autonomy and flexibility…this form of work also breaks traditional work into smaller tasks and spreads it across more people. In developing economies, gig workers often subscribe to multiple platforms to try to access enough gigs and so piece together an income. The uncertainty of whether one will get enough gigs, among other factors, makes this form of work insecure,” it said.

“Evidence suggests that the pandemic is fuelling a rise in gig work that is expanding the pool of self-employed contractors. In many developing countries, self-employment already accounts for close to 50 per cent of employment. Continuing expansion of gig work could raise this share, not least in reaction to the crisis as workers who have lost their jobs enter gig work – a sector with lower barriers to entry,” it added.

The United Nations body said even before the virus outbreak, technological advances were shaping media, retail, health, social interactions, financial transactions and politics, breaking up work into smaller gigs and fundamentally restructuring labour markets.

“In certain sectors technology adoption saves labour – for instance when robots are deployed in manufacturing or when technology raises productivity so that fewer workers are required. In other sectors, such as the gig economy, rising numbers of people are relying on platforms to generate income. In the midst of such changes, people who lack access to technology, or the skills needed to engage with it, or who are victim to biases embedded in certain algorithms are already facing a significant disadvantage…the pandemic is now accelerating these changes and deepening the digital divide within and between countries,” it added.

Talking about the digital divide, ILO gave an example of the education sector. It said as education and training institutions closed and shifted to online learning, only those with access to the technology and skills to use it – whether teachers, trainers or students – were able to engage effectively.

“For some students unable to effectively access online learning, what they have lost will have important implications for their ability to make the transition from education to work. Economically vulnerable populations in developing countries, where the digital divide is more acute, have been particularly affected,” ILO added.

Though the agency did not give country-specific details, according to a 2021 report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, India’s gig economy is set to triple over the next three to four years to 24 million jobs in the non-firm sector. The number of flexi or gig jobs could soar to 90 million in 8-10 years, the report said.