SUCCESS STORY

With over one million registered users across 500 Indian cities, here’s a closer dekko at how the online startup, GigIndia, is providing a timely and meaningful connect between on-demand jobs and part-time work seekers, homemakers or fresh graduates (called giggers), thereby reducing costs to the company and generating employment - even in Covid times. For this, they have recently made it to the list of the top 50 global winners at the TiE50 virtual awards

As the pandemic brought upon a never-before economic bloodbath and saw thousands worldwide lose jobs, an Indian startup established as recently as 2017 went the distance and brought jobs and seekers on a single platform. So successful were they in their endeavour that they managed to generate meaningful employment for as many as 3,500 gig workers in just six months.

What’s more, they’ve done their bit towards gender empowerment too, even as the number of female gig workers went from 12 per cent to 30 per cent—a rise of 215 per cent post-March 2020. That’s not all. Gig workers from Tier 2/3/4 cities rose from 5 per cent to 58 per cent.

But the timing is clearly right, as proved by the projected statistics. "India ranks amongst the fastest-growing gig economies in the world. The study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India has great news: compounded at an annual growth rate of 17 per cent, the gig economy in India will reach $455 billion in just three years," says Aditya Shirole, COO and Co-founder. "The pandemic has fast-tracked the growth of the gig economy and companies are increasingly okay with work from home, thereby, bringing back women in great numbers. This is something we are very happy about", he adds.

It obviously helps that new-age technology companies like fintech, eductech, logistics, e-commerce etc. have proved willing to experiment with gig workers all the better to scale up faster and meet customer requirements.

Additionally, the government is doing its bit to give a fillip to the giggers. The Social Security Code of 2020 announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget Session 2021 is further going to boost the gig economy by giving the gig workers the due dignity and recognition they deserve through social security benefits. This will not only give further impetus to aspiring giggers but also make the sector more organised and transparent.

The gig economy is categorised into three colours: blue, grey and white-collar. Gig economy workers in the organised sector are estimated at 20 million and growing.

Commenting on their big win at the TiE50 virtual awards, Shirole said, “Our association with TiE has been extremely rewarding. First with TiE Nurture Pune in 2017 where we got the access to the best mentors possible, then with their support again in 2018 we raised our angel round of funding and now we are to be awarded with the TiE50. The entire credit goes to our team, our customers and giggers who have always motivated us to do better. In fact, we have now grown to one million plus registered giggers on our platform. This award will give us the credibility we need to expand globally. We would like to dedicate this award to all the frontline workers fighting the Covid war in India.”

"The USP of GigIndia is that we are able to ensure the right fit of skill and opportunity. The highest a gigger has earned with us is somewhere between INR 40,000 to INR 50,000

- Sahil Sharma"

(L-R) Sahil Sharma and Aditya Shirole

How it all started

The idea first took seed when Aditya along with Sahil Sharma (also the co-founder and CEO of the company) were engineering students at the Pune Institute of Computer Technology. A common challenge faced by the batchmates was getting a proper internship. Logistics was a significant part of the problem-the companies were situated on the end opposite to where they lived, far from the college campus. Travelling so far for work - whilst simultaneously ensuring the minimum 75 per cent attendance in the final year engineering classes was going to be back-breaking.

The duo thought to themselves—why not set up a platform to bring together students and companies that allow internship assignments to be completed remotely, thereby gaining precious experience and earning some money while at it?

In due course, this offline model focusing on college students has evolved into a busy marketplace that ensures on-demand work completion for companies through a gig force of job seekers.

Interestingly enough, neither Sahil nor Aditya come from an entrepreneurial background. Sahil’s dad is in the army while Shirole’s parents are medical professionals.

But egged on by the stories of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, they decided to take their chances. This included by passing the on-campus placement on completion of their BTech degrees—something the families weren’t aware of initially.

The risk paid odd. Success came quickly enough. In the first year itself, they were able to provide employment to as many as 1,000 gig workers. As of date, they have 5,000 gig workers and are thinking big: 100,000 gig workers by 2025.

What this means is that people need not travel to tier-I cities for work. Given the fact that companies have woken up to the potential of remote working in the backdrop of the pandemic, there’s much ground to be explored—including the positive effect on the infrastructure and quality of life in big cities like Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru etc.

How a gig worker differs from a freelancer

Sahil Sharma, CEO and Co-founder, GigIndia, explains the fundamental difference between a gig worker and a freelancer. “Freelancers are responsible for the work they produce, whereas, in the case of gig workers, we share the responsibility,” he says.

Similarly, they are trained and regulated by employers, which is not what freelancers are provided with.

In short, gig workers are professionals engaged in temporary projects and do not enjoy the benefits of full-time employees. Thus, the cost to the employer also goes down significantly, says Sharma. “Also, the USP of GigIndia is that we are able to ensure the right fit of skill and opportunity. The highest a gigger has earned with us is somewhere between INR 40,000 to INR 50,000. The average salary is about INR 25,000 a month,” he adds.

Here’s how it works: GigIndia first enrols job seekers for initial skilling and training, followed by suitable opportunities that allow them to work remotely.

This helps the companies save too. Unlike the regular model of business where employers must pay for a fixed cost based on the number of workers, GigIndia offers a variable cost model with payment based on outcome and results.

Best of all, GigIndia doesn’t take months to provide the skilled workforce—just three to seven days. The employers manage to cut back on overheads such as recruitment, managing and training the workers. While the flexible and cost-effective model found takers from the word go, the pandemic simply accelerated the growth.

“This platform worked because it kept businesses going even during the tough days of the lockdown and all the restrictions that came with it. Our model allows both companies and giggers the freedom and autonomy to set work deadlines as per mutual convenience. It has, over the last few months, proved smooth and efficient and allowed us to bring back a talented workforce into the thick of action, namely, homemakers who have the basic education and skill but can only work from home,” says Sharma. “Similarly, fresh graduates and assorted professionals are opting for this new mode of employment. In the days to come, gig platforms like ours will ensure efficient results and operational smoothness with the help of Artificial Intelligence. It is no exaggeration to say that it is going to bring a huge transformation in our current employment landscape.”

"The pandemic has fast-tracked the growth of the gig economy and companies are increasingly okay with work from home, thereby, bringing back women in great numbers"

- Aditya Shirole

An outcome-based model

Employing companies pay giggers on the basis of per unit of work completed. Suppose the task is to bag 200 new customers with a unit payment of INR 500 per customer, which amounts to INR 1 lakh. If the giggers manage to bag all as per target, GigIndia gets the entire promised sum of INR 1 lakh. But supposing they only manage to get half the number, GigIndia too gets only INR 50,000. GigIndia will now keep its margin and distribute the rest to the gig workers based on their individual performance. In short, the clients pay for the result and GigIndia does the same with its giggers. A few clients would include Paytm, BookMyShow, Uber, Tata, Swiggy and Amazon.

Challenges ahead

Given the massive pan-Indian demography with as many as 20 million active giggers, bringing them all on a single platform will be the first challenge. One lacuna that needs to be addressed is the existing paucity of a proper framework to upgrade the gig worker's skills. “However, upgrading skills is the first step to staying employable and relevant,” says Sharma. There is also a need for a mechanism to address disputes. “In the days to come, addressing the grievances of gig workers will bring in more and more talent into the workforce,” he says. Unto that end, labour laws will have to necessarily adapt.

From strength to strength

Recently, Explorium Innovative Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates GigIndia, raised over INR 7 crores in funding. The firm is slated to invest this in technological upgrades.

“Clearly, GigIndia is an idea whose time is now and tomorrow and in the days to come. Not only have we been able to do our bit in strengthening the economy but we have also scaled down the costs to employers and generated benefits to gig workers who constitute a powerful skill and talent base that must not be ignored. The GigIndia business is not only back to the pre-Covid level but is also rapidly increasing month-on-month. We have witnessed growth and success right through the pandemic and will continue to do so,” rounds off Sharma.

Connecting Gigs and Giggers

- Sahil Sharma"