With the Covid-19 pandemic-driven upswing in job changes, rise in entrepreneurial mindset and ease of working from anywhere or remote locations, the future of the corporate workplace is all about leveraging the gig workforce.
IndusGuru (an online curated platform of freelance professionals) conducted a research survey with more than 50+ companies from diversified sectors such as FMCG, health, infra, manufacturing, professional services etc. on the future of workforce hiring practices in India and organisational trends in hiring gig talents.
According to the survey, the next 2-5 years will see a rising trend of gig professionals being engaged in India close to 50 per cent, primarily at manager and executive (mid-career level) positions.
The report projects about 65 per cent or 2/3rd of the companies surveyed are already engaging gig professionals, mainly in FMCG, pharma, BFSI, services industry, manufacturing, technology, and BPO sectors.
The organisations are also willing and keen to engage freelance professionals when they want:
- talent for interim/project-based roles
- to build short-term flex capacity
- to build new capabilities
Several recent reports have projected that the total demand of the gig workforce is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17 per cent in the next 2-5 years.
How are the gig–professionals sourced?
The findings say it’s still largely an informal process, with ‘word-of-mouth’ playing a large role. About 61 per cent of the current gig workforce engaged are sourced through reference/word of mouth and emerging freelancer platforms contribute to 26 per cent.
The survey also measured factors that companies should consider to onboard a gig professional.
Companies valued quality and track-record as the most important parameters to work with a gig professional. Around 36 per cent of the participants valued the quality of the consultant/expert, while 24 per cent valued a track record of clients served.
While projecting the future of the professional gig economy, 60 per cent of company participants believe that flexible, part-time, and contractual hiring is likely to be the most prominent future need, followed by consulting projects.
Deepak Malkani, co-founder, IndusGuru, said, “Our research is aimed at providing insights to organisations on adopting the gig workforce, scaling it in the immediate term and adopting fundamental changes for the long-term sustainability. We held detailed case study interviews which helped us dive deep into the gig-hiring roles and find organisations willing and keen to engage freelance professionals in a wide range of situations today – interim management /back fill roles, shared CXOs, PMO, and technology hot-skills to aid digital transformation, project-based roles, and senior industry advisors.”
The survey also pointed out the fact that companies need to work on a more formalised HR approach while managing the process of onboarding, work-arrangements, engagement, and contractual payments. Firms need to work on aspects such as training, insurance, IT and data security while structuring the professional gig hiring system.