Gig jobs are popular with pocket-money seeking teens, for primary earners it’s a burden

• The gig economy of India is attracting more and more young people aged between 16 to 23 years.
• Teenagers, between the age group of 16 to 18, have shown a massive 750% growth in terms of willingness to opt for gig jobs, revealed Taskmo report.
• However, gig jobs are nowhere enough for a worker to survive and support a family.

India’s gig economy, which has been expanding, is now attracting the youngest of employable India, as per a report.

According to a report by gig marketplace Taskmo, the gig economy largely attracted youth aged between 16-23 years. Over 40% of the 7,50,000 registered gig workers on the Taskmo platform are of this age group and it has increased eight-fold in 2022 as compared to 2019.

“As the concept of gig is finding wide acceptance, there is a surge in participation of youth, who are preferring to take up gig job roles. Younger generations are also more open to exploring varied opportunities. It’s good that they do not want to limit themselves to work that comes with boundaries,” said Prashant Janadri, co-founder, Taskmo.

Teenagers are the most keen as those between 16-18, have shown a massive 750% growth in terms of willingness to opt for gig jobs.

Gig jobs allow youngsters to earn pocket money, without tying them down to stringent timings.

Covid job losses and gigs

But, it’s not just youngsters who are taking up gigs. The Covid-19 pandemic opened the floodgates for the gig workers as people relied heavily on them for home delivery of necessities. Many of them joined the gig economy in desperation as the pandemic felled many full-time jobs.

“Although the gig economy provides a lot of appealing benefits, many full-time employees had to reluctantly join the sector out of necessity during the start of Covid-19,” the report said.

Indian unemployment rate for the month of July dipped to its lowest in six months to 6.8%; but that’s mostly due to increased agricultural activities, according to CMIE data.

Urban unemployment in India jumped to 8.2% in July from 7.8% in June – showing the need for full time jobs that offer medicare and other benefits, in addition to a steady pay.

Added expenses and low pay

According to a GigPulse report by Karmalife that produces financial solutions for gig workers, the average earnings of gig workers stands at ₹18,000 per month. Over 15% of them face a financial deficit of at least ₹5,000 per month, on an average. Most gig workers also have to spend a part of their earnings on vehicle maintenance.

About 22% of the gig workers in India are primary earners who support their families and view their jobs as core livelihood. About 39% co-earn with other family members and view their gig jobs as temporary transition to a ‘better opportunity’, revealed the GigPulse report.

Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group also spoke about the need to create full-time job opportunities and careers at his annual general meeting or AGM speech on August 5.

“In the private sector, job creation is happening mainly at the lower end of the gig economy - drivers for Uber, delivery for Zomato, that sort of thing. This is not nearly enough. To create jobs on a mass scale and to take advantage of the global factors that are moving in our favour - we must boost manufacturing,” said Mahindra.

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