gig

1. www.iwwage.org
IWWAGE is an initiative of LEAD, an action-oriented research centre of IFMR Society (a not-for-profit society registered
under the Societies Act). LEAD has strategic oversight and brand support from Krea University (sponsored by IFMR Society)
to enable synergies between academia and the research centre.
India’s Emerging Gig
Economy
The Future of Work for Women Workers

2. www.iwwage.org
The gig economy: Key questions
• What is the gig or digital platform economy?
• How it is disrupting well-defined structures?
• Are workers Employees/Self-employed?
• Experiences of gig workers?
• Available legislative framework for protecting the rights of gig workers?
• Could gig economy be a viable option for women?
• Impact of COVID-19 on the future of the gig economy?

3. www.iwwage.org
Academics started to study how it works
• Quantifying the magnitude and growth, and;
• Understanding how the gig economy’s rise is impacting the participation of people by offering
alternative work arrangements and flexible work hours.
• Types of platform work
Crowdwork
• AMT
• CrowdFlower
• Clickworker
Work-on-
demand via
App
• Uber/Ola
• Zomato/Swiggy
• Urban Company/Housejoy
• Dunzo
• Amazon/Flipkart
Micro-task
crowdsourcing
platforms-operate
online –Freelance work
Activities are
executed in the real
world and locally,
but channeled
online-Independent
contractors
Both categories
of work have
differing skill
requirements
Available
literature suffers
from an Uber-
bias
In India, gig workforce is
concentrated in these
aggregator companies
California’s
AB5 sought to
reclassify gig
workers as
‘Employees’

4. www.iwwage.org
Rapidly expanding gig economy offers attractive alternative to conventional
employment
• Lack of formal statistics and no reliable data on number of gig jobs created so far in India
• Gig economy provides employment to millions of migrant workers in urban India; has
potential for generating more employment (BetterPlace, 2019)
• Approximately 56 per cent of new employment in India is being generated by the gig
economy (Teamlease), which is inclusive of both blue-collar and white-collar manpower
- Delhi is the top destination for migrant workers joining gig economy
• Steady expansion of the platform economy enabled by both demand for services as well
as a steady supply of workers willing to take up such jobs
• Women’s participation is increasing in the gig economy, but..
- Most jobs remain restricted to traditional segments such as domestic work, care work, beauty and wellness

5. www.iwwage.org
Platform in focus: Urban Company
• Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap), founded in December 2014, is one of the largest
home services start-up in India
• Provides end-to-end service delivery, in the hyperlocal services segment
• Objectives of the study – to investigate:
• Women workers’ experiences, including issues of security, flexibility, labour process and
pay/conditions
• Impact on women’s empowerment and agency, and constraints within a polarised labour
market
• Sample and Methodology
• Sample: 88 women service providers working with UC in Delhi in the beauty and wellness
segment including spa, fitness and salon services
• Primary Survey + FGDs + KIIs

6. www.iwwage.org
Demographic profile of women gig workers
• Gig workers are millennials – average
age of sample: 31 years.
• 80% women are married, and around
half of them have young children.
• 82% of the sample was non-migrant.
• 72% women had passed high school,
and 21% had attended college.
• Flexibility and autonomy over time use
are the most attractive features of the
gig economy – 85% respondents were
satisfied with flexible timings, with 37
average work hours per week.
• Women with young children find the
platform economy particularly
attractive, as this offers the flexibility to
manage the work-family balance.
10.2
29.6 29.6
20.5
10.2
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40+
Age distribtution of service
providers
78.4
18.2
1.1
2.3
Marital status of the respondents
Married Unmarried Divorced Widowed
4.6
71.6
20.5
3.4
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
Middle
school
(Class 6-8)
High school
(Class 9-12)
Graduate Diploma
Educational attainment of
respondents
28
46
20
6
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 1 2 3
Number of children aged (0-14)
years

7. www.iwwage.org
Finding work and Earnings
• 57% women reported that they service
less than three calls per day and 42%
of respondents’ service between three
to five calls each day
• Gig work was the primary source of
family’s income for 60% of our
respondents. These women are crucial
economic actors and provide critical
financial support to their families.
• Average daily earnings are Rs. 1,552.
• Informal social networks are important
for entering the gig space: 74% of the
respondents utilised their personal
networks in finding their current jobs.
• Under recruitment process - each
professional undergoes multiple levels
of screenings, and training is
mandatory for all partners.
1.1
42.1
56.8
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
More than 5 times a
day
3-5 times a day Less than 3 times a day
Number of services provided per day
“After careful and exhaustive selection procedure, each
woman partner has to undergo an induction training for 10
days. They are trained to do everything from packing and
unpacking the Urban Company kit bags, to navigating the
platform smoothly using their mobile phones, and client
interface”.

8. www.iwwage.org
Women’s empowerment and increased autonomy
• Our survey findings revealed that gig economy helps women workers gain financial independence.
• It provides avenues which are not only economically empowering but also changing their relative
position within the family.
• Women enjoy a higher status and improved decision-making power.
One woman participant shared that, “I was married into a family where I was asked
to cover my face with a veil. When I was asked to come for a training at UrbanClap,
I had to wear trousers and my mother-in-law asked me to wear the traditional
attire or move out of the house. I lived with my maternal family until I completed
my training. I joined UrbanClap only six months back, and since then I earn well, my
mother-in-law has taken me back with all due respect”.
Training Head of Urban Company mentioned “The beauty of the gig economy is the
flexibility that it offers, especially for our female partners. For instance, a lot of
female partners are married with children, they like to offer their services when
their children go to school i.e. the first half of the day, there are others who want to
work in the latter half of the day. Each partner has the option to log in and log off
the platform at their will. They just need to mark it on the app.”

9. www.iwwage.org
• In general - no safety nets for gig economy workers
• UC extends medical cover to its partners, and
• 90% have even utilized/benefitted from it, but are not entitled to any other benefits.
• 53% of the surveyed gig workers were subjected to penalties for declining jobs.
• Control over labour is exerted via automated rating and review mechanisms - permitting
platform to exclude “poor performers”.
93.1
58.6
85.1
8.0
48.3
26.4
85.1 83.9
73.6
6.1
38.0
13.3
90.9
48.2
70.8
13.3 14.3
23.8
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Training received Support in terms
of
inputs/materials
used
Opportunities for
learning
Maternity
benefits
Insurance benefit Incentive and
increment
systems
Flexible timings Experience
dealing
Access to
customer base
% Satisfied % Dis-satisfied
Challenges faced by service providers

10. www.iwwage.org
In Conclusion
Positives
• Women are the beneficiary of the gig ecosystem – offers choice of work and financial independence
• Women enjoy a higher status and improved decision-making power within the family
• Platforms offer choices to women, who in the absence of these, and the precarity of informal work,
choose to not participate in any economic activity
Negatives
• Disappearance of employer-employee relations has a deep impact on labour structures
• Access to benefits, safety, increased and consistent earnings, increasing competition, lack of effective
bargaining power are major challenges
Recommendations
• Adequate labour protection measures; fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective
bargaining
• More research to fully understand how gig work fits into the broader labour market and to understand
actual (best) practices adopted in different platforms within the service sector

11. www.iwwage.org
ruchika.chaudhary@iwwage.org