India's Freelance Revolution: How Affordable Tech is Fueling Its Growth?

In this first edition of a multi-thematic newsletter, we will be discussing the world of technology from the inside out, diving deep into the up-and-coming workforce of younger generations, The Freelance Economy. We aim to explore the potential of this booming workforce of the future and how affordable technology can help empower their journey. 

“Necessity is the mother of invention” and in this era of high work demand and low employment rates, young people are inventing job opportunities for themselves, in the form of Freelance or Gig work, i.e., self-employment. 

From hunting and gathering to finding jobs just by tapping on a few keys, how humanity earns a livelihood has changed impressively over the centuries. The economic growth and evolution of the job market have been tremendous in the last couple of years. But the job market hasn’t changed alone; it has evolved people's work preferences. 

Earlier, people were more inclined to conventional work setups, i.e., in-office work with fixed working hours. But nowadays, work dynamics are changing, which has given rise to this new section of the labour market: Freelancers or Gig Workers. 

Freelancers or Gig Economy is a form of short-term contractual work that companies take from self-employed individuals, specialized in different skill sets across industries. Freelance workers are not bound by any fixed work hours or schedule or with any obligations to visit the workplace in person. They can choose to work from anywhere and anytime as per their comfortable schedule given that the work required is done before the deadline. Lately, more and more young people are getting inclined to this form of work, thereby changing the work dynamics significantly. 

The Statistics Speak Loud!

India’s apex public policy think tank - NITI Aayog in its India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on the Future of Work Report, has explored the potential and progress of the Gig economy so far. 

Below are some of the key findings:

• Approx. 6.8 million people were gig/freelance workers in the year 2019-20, the number grew to 7.7 million in 2020-21 holding a share of 2.6% of the total non-agricultural workforce in India. The study estimates that this number is expected to rise to 23.5 million by the year 2029-30, contributing up to 4.1% of the total workforce of India. 

1. The above data shows a significant and rapid rise in the number of individuals choosing freelance as their preferred mode of work, thus indicating a dynamic shift in the job preferences of young individuals and the job market as a whole. 
2. Thereby, indicating the need for fast-paced technological advancements, i.e., budget-friendly yet high-performance devices, to meet the pace of this emerging workforce and support their exponential growth.  

• In 2019-20, the retail and trade industry employed about 2.7 million gig workers, while the transport industry held about 1.3 million gig workers. Similarly, the manufacturing and finance sectors collectively held 1.2 million gig or freelance workers.

1. The above data indicates that the potential for growth of the freelance economy is not limited to any particular sector. With the growing accessibility of digital technologies, people from any sector can ultimately find ways to work independently, given access to the right technologies within their budget. 
2. It becomes more evident from the recent growth in the number of people from middle-class or low-income households taking up work as quick-commerce or food delivery partners. While jobs in these sectors may not be permanent, they certainly give opportunities to workers to earn extra income and work on flexible schedules. 

• The report also highlights that approximately, 47% of the freelance or gig economy is filled with medium-skilled workers while 22% and 31% are high-skilled and low-skilled workers respectively. 

1. This indicates that while the current freelance market is dominated by medium-skilled labourers, the number of high-skill and low-skill workers is only increasing rapidly. 
2. It highlights the future potential of low-skilled or medium-skilled freelance workers to gain better skill sets and climb the income and social status ladder, by leveraging affordable technologies to learn those new skills. 

Reasons for The Growth Beyond Flexible Work Culture

Over the years, the freelance economy and the people in it have not only grown personally but have been an immense inspiration for the next generation to enter the field, some of the popular names are – 

• Shreya Pattar,
• Saheli Chatterjee, and 
• Vedika Bhaia. 

The data above surely sounds quite impressive and surprising, but certainly gives rise to questions like “What is the reason behind such a growth in the freelance industry?” or “Is the flexible work hours the only reason to choose freelance work?” Well, below are some of the in-depth reasons for the boom of the freelance economy:

1. Rising education levels

This is one of the primary reasons why more people are inclined toward the freelance or Gig economy. 

In recent times, people have focused on finding diverse ways to earn a livelihood, and with higher education levels, it becomes easy to understand and capture good opportunities as and when they arrive. 

In this era, even people pursuing full-time higher education degrees desire to support their families financially, and herein, the freelance work culture appears the right fit for them.

2. Rapid penetration of digital and smartphone technology

At present, the internet and the digital world have grown immensely, leading to the creation of this new job sphere, i.e., remote workers or freelancers. 

Now, people don’t have to be present in front of their employer all the time to be held accountable for any certain job, rather like all other things now, work is being asked for, and delivered through digital platforms. 

3. Growing prevalence of online freelance platforms

Gone are the times when finding jobs was a challenging task! Today, all one needs to do is sign up for online platforms and find work, following their skill and experience. This goes well for both in-office jobs and freelance opportunities. For instance, platforms like UpWork, Fiverr, Freelancer, Behance, etc are quite popular among freelancers. 

Such platforms not only ensure a steady work opportunity for freelancers but also offer other young individuals interested in entering the work field to explore and grab freelance work easily. 

4. Government Initiatives

Over the recent years, the Government of India has also rolled out several schemes and initiatives to support the freelance economy.

•  Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan - A Social Security Scheme for unorganized/Gig workers. 
• The Code of Social Security 2020 - The Ground Rules drafted to ensure safe working conditions for freelancers or Gig workers. 

Such schemes undoubtedly help establish a stronger sense of confidence in people seeking to enter the Gig economy. 

5. Global Opportunities

The freelance industry, as flexible and liberating as it is, knows no boundaries when it comes to work opportunities. 

This is because the workers can do the work right from the comfort of their homes or workstations for the client sitting in a distant part of the world. It also ensures a higher pay scale for different projects as per the client’s paying capacity. 

6. No cap on income opportunities

The freelance or Gig economy vests enormous freedom in one’s career journey. 

It enables individuals to work as many hours as they please and for as many people as they want, unlike conventional work setups where people are expected to work for only one company/business/client, thus allowing opportunities for higher income potential. 

That’s how individuals take ownership of their work and earning potential, and feel no boundaries stopping them from exceeding their potential in terms of skill and income.

7. Freedom to diversify career paths with new skill sets:

The freelance economy empowers people to expand and diversify their skill sets, opening new doors of income opportunities for them. 

Especially, with the growing popularity of platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, etc which offer short courses for multiple niche and skill domains, young individuals are proactively taking up such opportunities to secure better freelance work for themselves with their newly acquired skills. 

Challenges Yet to Overcome & Contributions of The New-Gen Brands

As we know, there are always two sides to the coin, so while there are benefits of the freelance economy, there are also many challenges that freelancers or gig workers face. Apart from the many known challenges, like — 

• Low job security, 
• Income volatility, and 
• Limitations in regulatory or legal frameworks for the Gig Economy or freelancers in India, 

Another challenge that prevents people from low-income backgrounds from entering the freelance economy is — The long-standing digital divide and inaccessibility of advanced technologies! 

Concerning Freelancers in India, most of them come from low-income households – 

• To earn and support the family, 
• To overcome the burden of relocation for better work opportunities, or
• To ensure living even with a lower skill set. 

So, while considering the freelance economy, one must never forget that freelancers or conventional workers, all are a part of the Indian economy. Although the Indian economy is growing at quite an impressive rate, it is still at a very nascent stage when compared to the global economies. Hence, the impact of the digital divide, which is still very much prevalent in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, comes into play. 

Below are some possible solutions to ease these challenges for the freelance workforce of India:

1. Government Actions: The government must take active steps towards closing the digital divide so that people from all walks of life and across different financial strata can access the rapidly evolving digital technologies. Subsequently accessing diverse freelance work prospects. This, in turn, can help the youth of India to contribute to India’s GDP in their most suitable and comfortable mode.  
2. Training Programs: Institutions and authorities must incorporate training programs at the Tier-2 and Tier-3 levels to make people more digitally literate so they can get better freelance work opportunities using digital technology.
3. Affordable Innovations: Since the freelance or gig workers’ economy is highly dependent on digital technology, be it collaborating with a team online or accepting and delivering work requests, it requires highly efficient tech devices but within an affordable budget. Following the same considerations, many new and upcoming tech brands are already working to bring cost-effective devices for young users with limited income sources. For instance, 

• Today, we have a range of budget-friendly earphones, smartwatches, and even cost-effective laptops such as Primebook, with user-friendly Android-based OSs to ensure users don’t have to spend much time learning the functionalities of the interface.
• Similarly, many such technologies, like cloud PCs, larger storage (Clouds), etc., otherwise cost a lot of money, but their subscription models make them easily accessible for low-income self-employed workers, thus bridging the gap between fully fledged office cultures and independent freelancers or limited-remote teams.
• Another much-required feature that the upcoming smart devices are coming with is an additional calling feature, for instance, many smartwatches allow wifi/Bluetooth calling, similarly, laptops like Primebook offer 4G SIM connectivity to offer 24x7 high-speed internet access even in areas devoid of wifi services, and even on-the-go to freelancers who enjoy working from different locations. 

In the words of Pankaj Rawat, Chief Business Officer, Primebook India - “At Primebook, we aim to offer a holistic digital infrastructure in a compact, cost-effective, and power-efficient device built to support freshers entering the workforce or students doing part-time freelance work. The goal is to help them succeed in their chosen field without the hassle of outdated tech.”