Work minus gigs equals less giggles
New rules, protests put the spotlight on gig workers, and their lives
Life of a gig worker remains under a socio-economic veil. Mysteries, intrigues, paradoxes, and contradictions surround her life. This has prompted several researchers to conduct controlled ethnographic studies by following them 24x7 for several days and weeks. Experts realise that watching the gig workers from a distance, or engaging with them via short and long interviews, does not provide a full picture. This is visible from a survey, which interviewed 1,355 employees across Karnataka, and whose excerpts were captured by a media website. More than clarity, the picture that emerges is foggy.
Most feel that the gig workers are paid a pittance, and their incomes fluctuate every month since they get commissions based on volumes and values of deliveries. Indeed, these were the major complaints during the recent protests in several cities, including Bengaluru in Karnataka. However, in the survey, almost everyone, nearly 95 per cent, seems satisfied with their incomes. This is not because, as is the common impression, gig work forms a second layer of revenue for those who pursue multiple income streams. In the survey, 84 per cent said that gig work accounted for “primary income,” or is the main source.
Hence, one may assume that while a miniscule section of the workers in the larger cities, like Bengaluru, may be unhappy with their incomes, the others are not for several reasons. In the smaller cities, as in the bigger ones, opportunities are limited. Despite the hardships, like roaming around in the heat or cold through the day, and minus the social security net, gig work is more stable because the demand for more employees invariably exists. The incomes may seem small for the aspirants in cities, but are substantial in smaller ones.
More importantly, unlike the more stable work, like 9-to-5 one, gig work offers flexibility and freedom. Competition has intensified, say, in the delivery business, especially with the onset of 10-minute quick-delivery commerce. Hence, there is enough demand, which allows the workers to change jobs, and apps, quite rapidly, and in a dash, from Rapido to DoorDash. Gig workers are able to jump jobs for better remuneration, which keeps their hopes up of getting into decent-income brackets. The attrition rates are high, and job tenures are low, as many of them switch apps within a few months, if not a few weeks.
As is the case with some jobs, gig work, especially delivery, conjures up pathways that allow the employees to escape present trajectories. In construction, a worker feels he can become a mason, and a mason thinks he can emerge as a contractor. The same is true about gig workers, who experiment with various job profiles, and revenue streams, and are invariably aware that a genuine break is round the corner. They take a left here, and there it will be. This explains why three-fourths of the people in the survey confidently espouse that they “do not wish to stay on (in the delivery business) for long.”
Indeed, one of the authors of the survey indicated that anecdotal evidence shows that gig workers do graduate to high-end jobs. “I have somebody working in my office now who was earlier working with Rapido, and now is doing high-end ETL transformations for one of the AI things that we are trying to push out,” he explained. Thus, this shows a more systemic problem with the economy, ie, lack of proper jobs for the highly-educated people, and the pressures to take up something that is flexible, and wait patiently for the right job.
In the media report, which highlights the survey, there is a negative connotation that the gig economy workers do not save. Just over half of the surveyed employees say that they have “zero savings.” Couple this with a lack of social net, and social security, or minimal mechanism, and it seems like a dangerous trend. But two issues are crucial. The first is that most of the gig workers are young and, hence, have time to shore up savings, investments, and think of retirement planning.
The second, as mentioned before, is that they do not intend to do the same work for longer periods.
More importantly, the mindset with which we see a gig worker, as opposed to someone who works in a corporate set up, has changed. While the images of the latter include questions about the employee’s family, children, lifestyle, and spending pattern, those for the former are about their ability to either get jobs, or be exploited. Today, the four labour codes, and genuine understanding about the gig economy has helped to bridge this mentality, and understanding gap. Now, the gig workers are looked at similarly to others, who work in temporary capacities in offices, or at the factories. Both are workers.
But there is obviously more to gig jobs, and gig workers than what we can see from the outside, and comprehend. What is required is serious and rigorous ethnographies that provide more insights. Educated youngsters, of Gen Z, for instance, feel more comfortable, even confident with flexible, freelance, and consultancy jobs. They aim for multiple jobs to increase incomes, and combat boredom and monotonous feelings. One is not sure if the flexible hours, and jobs that gig workers enjoy, or stay unhappy with, provide them with similar emotions. Possibly, the delivery boys and girls relate more to construction workers.
More studies, rather than mere surveys, which feel like -touch-and-go, hide-and-seek, or instant reactions, are crucial to study the gig economy. In many cases, as pollsters find out, the people interviewed tend to give answers that they feel are expected from them. They do not speak the entire truth, and fabricate it with falsehoods. This may or may not happen deliberately, but it does. This is especially so when sentiments are involved, rather than objective truths, like in an election, or job-related satisfaction, or salaries.
However, things are changing, as more people tend to treat the gig workers better, and try to understand them. In the recent past, tipping in some sectors has gone up, especially in the case of apps where the money goes directly to the employees. Anecdotal evidence shows that households treat the delivery girls better, especially in summers. Even one of the authors of the survey changed after the report. “I have started to tip more. I think we should tip more. As a country only we should tip more….” He wants the others to do the same.
