Demand For Gig Workers Up 22% In May, Led By Sales, Marketing Roles: Report

Hiring demand for gig workers continued to grow at a rapid pace in the post-pandemic employment market, climbing 22.13 per cent in May sequentially led by sales and marketing roles, according to a report.

According to the first Taskmo Gig Index (TGI) by Quess Corp-backed startup Taskmo, post-pandemic Indian companies are increasingly on the lookout for gig workers, project-based temporary employees, with the demand witnessing a growth of 22.13 per cent in May compared to the previous month.

Organisations mainly look for gig workers to fulfil roles in business development, field sales, last-mile delivery, digital promotion, brand promotion and micro-influencers, it said.

The demand for marketing and sales jobs has seen a triple-digit growth, according to the newly created gig index.

Amid worries over startup layoffs, funding crunch and shutdowns, Taskmo witnessed a surge in demand for gig workers across quick commerce (300 per cent), healthtech (250 per cent), fintech (200 per cent) and e-commerce (198 per cent) sectors, it added.

The first Taskmo Gig Index report details various trends in the gig jobs for the period between Jan-May 2022. TGI is an analysis of gig job posting activity conducted by Taskmo.

As per the TGI, the number of active gig workers registered on the platform in May was 60,000, marking a 15.38 per cent growth in the workforce compared to the previous month.

Top recruiters have strengthened their roots across tier-II and tier-III cities such as Pondicherry, Mirzapur, Patna, Jabalpur, and Kanpur, which are picking up their way to gig jobs.

In contrast, metro cities continued to maintain the growth momentum for gig workers, it noted.

"With the adoption of WFH (work from home) and flexible models of working, there has been a vast expansion in the kind of jobs made available to workers and companies. One such model is the gig, which is today widely adopted by organisations across India. 

"The TGI has been initiated to form a broad and comprehensive analysis of job opportunities and trends around the gig marketplace in India," said Lohit Bhatia, President, Workforce Management, Quess Corp limited.

Majority of gig taskers (49.5 per cent) prefer monthly payments while 28 per cent opt for daily payouts based on completed tasks, the report revealed.

A minority of 22.5 per cent workers cashed their payments on a weekly basis, it said.

"Gig is the newest trend in the employment market and today we see its expansion across each and every industry in the country. Over the last two years, rapid tech advancements followed by the introduction of flexible work models have created an evolution in the gig economy at large. Now we see every other company promoting 'gigification' of traditional job roles, Taskmo Co-Founder Prashant Janadri said.  

Furthermore, we have seen that emerging segments in gig are largely dominated by millennials and Gen Z today, he added.