IT sector driving demand for high-skilled gig workers: Survey

There has been a 78% rise in participation of high-skilled workers in the gig economy for contract-based jobs, finds a new survey.

This surge in high-skilled gig workers is complemented by a thriving 157% growth in demand from the IT sectors during the first two quarters of 2023, according to data from Awign Expert – a division specialising in high-skill gig workers at work-as-a-service platform Awign.

As companies face the brunt of cost optimisation, the gig economy has emerged as a vital solution to variabilise their fixed costs while working with a highly-skilled workforce on a project or milestone basis. Data from Layoffs.fyi reveals that in 2022 alone, 1,64,709 employees were laid off by 1058 tech companies, with more than 2 lakh employees globally facing the same fate in 800 tech companies.

According to the platform, the majority of the demand is required for mid-level and senior positions for high-skill professionals in tech roles with two to seven years of experience. Tech roles such as Java, Python, React, Vue, Angular, Data science, and full-stack development along with such as Go lang, ML, Microservices, C, C Sharp, PHP, Dot net, and Laravel have been highly sought after by the IT sector.

“In the current landscape of cost-cutting, business optimisation, and layoffs, we are witnessing a surge in high-skilled gig workers’ participation in the gig economy. Enterprises recognise the advantages of tapping into this talent pool for highly-skilled professionals on-demand, leading to cost savings and operational efficiency. Our platform enables businesses to leverage high-skilled gig workers across industries, transforming work dynamics and providing meaningful opportunities in these challenging times,” said Annanya Sarthak, co-founder and CEO, Awign.

The surge of high-skill gig workers has been distributed across India, with almost 50% of participation coming from tier 1 cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. While 35% of these professionals hail from tier 2 cities like Coimbatore, Nashik, and Mysore, the remaining 15% come from tier 3 cities including Raipur and Vijaywada. With unstable global economic conditions, Awign Expert is also witnessing the participation of high-skill gig workers from countries such as the US, Canada, UAE, and SEA.

The gig economy provides a lifeline for enterprises grappling with mounting costs and the need for workforce flexibility. By tapping into gig workers, businesses can effectively manage their expenses by avoiding fixed costs associated with full-time employees. Simultaneously, gig workers facing layoffs can find new work opportunities in the gig economy. They can leverage their skills and expertise to secure gig-based projects, maintaining their income and professional growth.

With a network of over 1.5 million gig partners and serving more than 175 marquee enterprises, Awign is ‘gigifying’ critical business functions for companies through a distributed gig workforce, to solve the challenge of underutilisation.