‘India constitutes about 40% of freelance jobs’

Shabbir Bharmal, DGM (Human Resources) of National Cancer Hospital, Nagpur having vast experience in HRM conducted the session on ‘HR in Gig Economy,’ which was organised by the HRD Forum of Vidarbha Industries Association at VIA Auditorium, Nagpur recently.

 

 

He briefed the participants about Gig, which is a slang, literary means a single performance by a musician or group of musicians, especially playing modern pop music.

 

He elaborated that employee / people, who are not bounded by time, place of work or any other organisational restrictions, and demands remuneration for the talent they possess, anyone who works in a contingent, temporary, diversified or freelance capacity form part of Gig economy. He further simplified that one who is not a full time or a part-time employee. A way of working based on employee/ people having temporary jobs or doing separate pieces of work, each paid separately, rather than working for an employer.

 

India constitutes about 40% of the freelance jobs offered globally, with 15 million skilled professionals fuelling the increasing demand of contract-based jobs or the freelance industry, he opined. He cited another study conducted by PWC found that 46% of HR professionals expect that at least 20% of their workforce will be made up of contractors and temporary workers by 2022. A study by freelancers union and upwork found that 32% of millennials believe they’ll be working mainly flexible hours in future.

 

He advised the participants that why GIG economy which is greater flexibility to both employer and employee as well as more availability of skilled and talented workforce, cost effective, great for time management and organisations save resources in terms of benefits, office spaces and training. He said biggest challenges in GIG economy are loyalty, collaborative teams, short term employment, insecure atmosphere, unclear legal framework, lack of social benefits and lack of job security.

 

One of the key challenges for HR in the Gig economy is a shift in an organisation’s leadership culture from command-and-control to collaboration, mentoring and partnership. In the ‘non-traditional’ working will simply impact on factors such as increased workplace flexibility, a global distributed workforce, advances in robotics, AI and cognitive technologies.

 

Reporting structures and hierarchy will change because of off-site employees, technology will be a critical enabler, flexible job roles will have to be designed, Online culture will replace offline workplace culture. Other factors, which are favourable for HR like recruiting could be fast, adaptable, available. performance management - conversations about individual and project goals, objectives and performance need to be ongoing.

 

Earlier, Aditya Saraf, Vice President – VIA welcomed the guest speaker. Hemant Lodha, Chairman of VIA HRD Forum in his welcome address said Gig economy is very new and important for organizations. Suresh Pandilwar, Co-Chairman of VIA HRD Forum proposed vote of thanks. Neelam Bowade, Convener of HRD Forum conducted proceedings. Present were Prof Ashit Sinha, mentor HRD Forum, Anita Rao, Jt Secretary – VIA and others.