NEW DELHI: Youngsters are increasingly dropping traditional ways of working and are opting for or showing openness to the gig way of working because of flexibility, extra income and portfolio development, among others.
The participation of youth in the gig economy has increased 8-fold between 2019 and 2022, according to gig discovery platform Taskmo. Teenagers, between the age group of 16 to 18, have shown a massive 750 per cent growth in terms of willingness to opt for gig jobs on the platform.
The company, which has over 7,50,000 gig workers registered, says close to 40 per cent of the gig workers on the platform are youth between the age group of 16 and 23. Between the years 2021 and 2022, youth’s participation in gigs hit a whopping 159 per cent growth, according to its Co-founder Naveen Ram.
It said there could be several reasons such as flexibility of job timings, extra income, the lesser barrier to entry, portfolio development, and a no-string-attached relationship with their jobs that helps them to consider several career options before having to settle down on one.
Taskmo also noted that a majority of the youth who are opting for gig job roles belong to Tier-1 cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. “Considering the fact that Bengaluru is also a startup hub, opportunities for blue-collar and white-collar gig roles are much higher.”
Prashant Janadri, co-founder, Taskmo said, as the concept of gig is finding wide acceptance, there is a surge in participation of youth who prefer to take up gig job roles. “The career paths of young professionals today look nothing like that of the 2000s.
Youngsters are more open to exploring varied opportunities,” he said. Gig marketplace Awign has also seen a 60 per cent jump in participation from the 18-25 age group between FY21 & FY22, said its co-founder & CEO Annanya Sarthak.