Start-up innovators Neelesh Rangwani and Neha Bagaria talk to Chahak Mittal about how ‘virtual employee' is not just a term anymore
Mountains in front of you, a large cup of coffee on the wooden tray, a slight nip in the air and laptop on the grassy knoll — office spaces can look like this if you want. All those who find being forced to head to work for a fixed number of hours everyday at a specific place incredibly stifling, the GIG (Global Inter Grid) economy holds out hope with flexibility to work out of anywhere provided you are a dot on the communication matrix.
In this open-ended online system, temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies hire independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees. And the trend is picking up as millennials eventually take up freelancing jobs through online portals or work for their own start-ups. A paradigm shift in work culture has already started taking place with even experienced senior employees moving towards the GIG economy. As per a recent report by Ernst & Young (EY), published in collaboration with FICCI and NASSCOM, titled Future of Jobs in India: A 2022 Perspective, Indian freelancers account for a 24 per cent share of the global online gig economy. The report also reveals that India is the world’s third largest online labour market.
Tapping into the need, portals have sprung up that connect potential employees and entrepreneurs to bring productivity even outside office spaces. With proper background checks, skill development training provisions, work alignment and hiring on the basis of project management, they strike off the restriction of working for fixed hours on employees. Players like Wishup.co, Jobsforher, Upwork and others have envisioned the need to align the system and connect such individuals with prospective corporates/SMEs in a systematic manner.
Wishup.co has been a hope for many flexi operators. Two friends from IIT Madras, Neelesh Rangwani and Vivek Gupta, realised that business owners could be connected to smart assistants through online platforms for work without them becoming a liablity. The duo aligned the system to connect such individuals with prospective corporates in a systematic manner. The two friends are now aiming to expand their venture and taking it to the US and Europe.
Rangwani reveals the origins of the idea, “Vivek and I have been friends for the last 12 years since we were at IIT Madras. We always wanted to start something together. But at that time we weren’t really clear of what and how. We went our separate ways where he completed his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and I moved to Germany. But that thought was still alive and we zeroed down on something related to the internet space. We thought that this is where we will definitely excel because we know and understand it well.”
He adds, “We chose an idea which at that time was known as a ‘chat-based assistant.’ It was a consumer idea which we scaled up pretty fast. We reached up to 20,000-25,000 users within six months but at that point I started questioning whether this was the only growth that internet could offer or if we could generate revenue with a proper business model? Also, is this what the internet is all about? Or it has a side yet to be explored?”
It was in early 2016 that Rangwani and Gupta started to think if “with the same set-up could we generate revenue as well as add value or make a difference to somebody’s life?”
After talking to a number of their regular users, they realised that most of them used it for their professional services rather than personal. Also, most of them were found to be budding entrepreneurs who had given up their jobs.
Rangwani says, “That is where the idea of a ‘virtual employee’ and a ‘virtual assistant’ birthed. They are always required as a resource for every start-up. We thought of changing it technically where it would be like a marketplace where people could find others to assist them online.”
The Wishup platform receives the payment that comes from the virtual employers and “then the virtual assistants are paid a full-time salary from our side. In a way, rather than the employers, we hire them.”
According to the Ernst & Young report, the future of jobs in 2022 in India will be determined by the country’s response to the inevitable impact created by the interplay of three primary forces — globalisation, demographic changes and the adoption of ‘Industry 4.0’ exponential technologies by Indian workplaces and expansion of the gig economy.
So what does the term ‘gig’ signify? Rangwani has an answer. “Gig, as a word, originated from the creative professionals like a comedian or a musicican. It was their way of saying that I have a gig here or there. A small project was called a gig. It is a slang but then it probably changed and started to be used for the internet space where creative freelancers offered their services online. They offer content, design services and more. We, however, do not call it a gig economy because even though they are virtual assistants for others, for us they’re full-time employees. We are making the online employers understand and trust that these employees are genuine and productive since often physical presence is appreciated and acknowledged more.”
One such is also JobsForHer, a connecting portal for women who wish to restart their careers after a break, be it after maternity leave, marriage or other personal reasons. Neha Bagaria, CEO and Founder of JobsForHer, says, “Gig workers can juggle multiple projects and still have flexibility and control over their time. There’s less risk of getting stuck in mundane jobs as it affords individuals the opportunity to build their skills through diverse projects across multiple industries and organisations.”
Both individuals and corporates are moving to the gig economy and agreeing that it is as relevant as any other type of employment. Now that millennials tend to switch jobs quickly and are past the typical 9-5 ‘job’ shifts, Rangwani says that they usually hire a person who has five years or more of experience.
But what about the freshers then? They also need to start somewhere. Rangwani believes that work comes with a promise and responsibility. “I was also on the other side a few years ago. But now, being on the employer’s side, I have realised that freshers are full of enthusiasm and energy and are always ready to explore and shift. They find it challenging to be stable at an early stage. This is the reason why youngsters are encouraged to do internships, just like in the US. They expand and gain experience and professional knowledge through internships and then enter a stable work field.”
