Gig Workers

Gig Workers: The plight of gig workers highlights exploitation in the gig economy through digital platforms. Rajasthan passed the first-of-its-kind Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023 to ensure social security.

• About Gig Workers: It is defined in the Labour Codes of 2019 as: “A person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationships.”

  o Includes: Freelancers, Contractual workers, Project-based workers, and Short-term workers.

  o Common in platform-based work, e.g., Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon, Flipkart.

  • Workforce Size: 77 lakh gig workers in 2020-21 (~2.6% of the non-agricultural workforce or 1.5% of India’s total workforce). Projected to reach 2.35 crore by 2029-30.
  • About Gig Economy: Involves short-term employment, contractual jobs, and independent contractors.

  o Also known as: Freelancer Economy, Agile Workforce, Sharing Economy, or Independent Workforce.

  o Platform Economy: Commerce increasingly shifts toward digital platform business models.

  • Recommendations: Provide stronger social security for gig workers and implement government oversight on platform algorithms to ensure fairness.