Gig jobs see surge in demand in sales and marketing across sectors

Quick commerce, healthtech, fintech and ecommerce are top sectors in Indian gig space

Hiring demand for gig workers continues to grow at a rapid pace in the post-pandemic employment market, with the highest offtake being recorded for sales and marketing roles. The surge in demand for gig workers is seen across quick commerce (300 per cent), healthtech (250 per cent), fintech (200 per cent), and e-commerce (198 per cent) sectors, said the first edition of the Taskmo Gig Index.

Amid worries over start-up layoffs, funding crunch, and shutdowns, quick commerce segments, which include the delivery of grocery and everyday essentials, continue to exhibit steep demand for gig workers with a growing number of established players scaling up their hiring especially across top cities.

Tech-based segments have also seen considerable demand in line with rapid digitization and robust growth of healthtech, fintech, and foodtech industries. FMCG (up 17.65 per cent) saw moderate demand for gig jobs this month as compared to the previous month (May vs April, 2022).

Indian companies are increasingly on the lookout for gig workers to fulfil roles in business development, field sales, last-mile delivery, digital promotion, brand promotion, and micro-influencers, said the report. Overall, the demand for marketing and sales jobs has seen a triple-digit growth, according to the newly created gig index.

As per the TGI, the number of active gig workers registered on the platform in May is 60,000, marking a 15.38 per cent growth in the workforce joining the gig economy compared to the previous month. Additionally, the Index reflects a 50 per cent growth in active gig workers on the platform in the past five months.

The report also further added that top recruiters have strengthened their roots across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities such as Pondicherry, Mirzapur, Patna, Jabalpur, and Kanpur, which are picking up their way to gig jobs. In contrast, metro cities continue to maintain the growth momentum for gig workers.

“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. Furthermore, we have seen that emerging segments in gig are largely dominated by Millennials and Gen Z today,” said Prashant Janadri, Co-Founder, Taskmo.

The much spoken about social security rights and flexible payment options for the gig workers are reflected in the Taskmo Index with a majority of taskers (49.5 per cent) preferring monthly payments while 28 per cent of the economy opt for daily payouts based on completed tasks. A minority of 22.5 per cent workers cashed their payments on a weekly basis.

Gig economy gaining foothold in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets

City-specific data indicates that the demand for gig work across Tier-1 cities saw an overall 33 per cent growth month-on-month. While cities such as Hyderabad (45 per cent), Mumbai (45.45 per cent), Delhi (32 per cent), Bangalore (25 per cent), and Chennai (23.4 per cent) saw maximum growth, demand across Tier 2 cities such as Indore (59 per cent), Bhopal (22.4 per cent) and Pune (20 per cent) were almost at par with the metros.

Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities have noted improved demand for gig given that companies are expanding their geographical footprint beyond metros by setting up secondary offices in smaller towns. Recruiters are also going the extra mile to attract workers from smaller cities through a tech-driven approach, providing multi-language support, job tracking and monitoring solutions, as well as ease of payments. Moreover, location is no longer a deal breaker as many jobs today can be done remotely, which is also in line with the workers' preferences.

It is interesting to note that Millennials and Gen Z (19-25 years) make up 48 per cent of the gig workforce today indicating that the youth in India are rapidly moving towards freelancing and gig jobs with a preference for flexible work schedules. The age group of 26-40 years hold a 32 per cent share in the gig economy, while gig workers in the age group of 41-60 make up only 20 per cent of the overall pie.

Furthermore, while women consist of only 28 per cent of this segment, gig continues to be a flexible model of work for India’s working women who are able to pick their jobs based on their area of interest, location, availability and experience. Women have been majorly employed in roles related to Customer support, Content monitoring & moderation, Tele-sales, and Audits & Surveys.

Taskmo, is an on-demand gig talent discovery platform, and the Taskmo Gig Index (TGI), a tool to measure the demand and supply for gig work across India.

The first Taskmo Gig Index report details various trends in the gig jobs for the period between Jan 22- May 22.