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3 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES FROM JOINING THE GIG ECONOMY
It’s universally acknowledged that the gig economy is here to stay. A Mastercard report forecasts global gig-economy transactions to grow by 17% every year to around $455 billion by 2023.
For business owners this means developing strategies suited to hire from the gig economy. It also includes creating engagement models for greater retention in existing employees who might want to join this new market.
Who works in the gig economy?
India is one of the biggest players at the forefront of this new-age market. “Insights Into The Freelancer Ecosystem” a 2018 PayPal analysis named India as “the largest freelancer market in the world”. Even at the pandemic's peak, the trend continued with India Today, observing a 46% increase in new freelancers from Q1 to Q2, 2020. In the post-pandemic world too, gig workers in India seem to have a promising future. A recent report released by Indeed projects the gig workforce in India to grow by an additional 90-110 lakh by 2025, or even exceed those numbers.
How the gig economy is changing the workforce?
Aon’s report titled “Salary Increase Survey in India 21-22”, has informed employers that attrition rates in the country remain elevated to 20%. This figure is the highest one over a decade and similar double-digit trend is expected to follow in 2023 as well. A majority of the attrition rate comes from voluntary resignation.
Data indicates that the strengthening of freelance markets may have weakened the position of traditional permanent jobs for the white-collar worker, which was once considered the only successful form of employment.
Much like the Great Resignation in the US, where over the past year millions of workers have voluntarily quit their jobs – CNBC put the number down to 4.3 million people.
A Mckinsey report pointed out several possible reasons for it:
An economy of project-based and part-time jobs offers relief to most of these listed stressors. As a freelancer, there is a prevalence of remote working opportunities, flexible working hours, independence to choose projects that are aligned with one’s career goals and autonomy as a business owner. This way the gig economy may put companies at risk of losing their best permanent in-house talent to it.
Stay ahead of the curve by giving your full-time employees the best of both worlds. Here are ways you can implement similar strategies to retain your talent.
1. Be open to flexible working hours
The pandemic proved that business could be done and done well even outside the confines of the office. Nasscom and Indeed’s “Return To Workplace Survey” confirms that most employees don’t want to come back to office – there is 66% higher employee satisfaction while working from home.
Though there can be exceptional situations where the nature of work requires employees to work from mostly from the office. Companies like Google and Facebook, are some of the largest data collectors in the world. For them, as reported by Forbes, bringing back employees to the office, makes sense on cybersecurity grounds. Yet they are considered by many to have two of the world’s most progressive work cultures.
Loneliness and isolation are also known to be growing concerns amongst completely remote workers.
There really is no one-size-fits-all solution. Consider building a successful hybrid workplace for your employees that align with the requirements of their productivity and happiness as well as the business needs of your organisation.
2. Support employee career advancement
A recent PWC report found that 71% of Indian employees are concerned about being overlooked for career advancement as compared to their global peers at 21%. Though Indian employees want more than just monetary benefits as a form of career advancement.
“Sectors most affected by attrition have been e-commerce, FMCG, hi-tech jobs and startups, despite them reporting the highest salary increase post-pandemic,” Jang Bahadur Singh, director, of human capital solutions at Aon, India told Business Insider in a recent article.
Other forms of career advancement that might motivate employees to stay in their jobs are giving them more responsibility in their current roles and providing training and time off for upskilling.
3. Continuously engage with work-life balance
One of the biggest allures of the gig economy is being your own boss and choosing clients that respect your time and boundaries. Whereas the Indian workplace seems to be failing at keeping up with these standards.
Toxic behaviour at the workplace has been considered by a Mckinsey study as the top reason for Indian employees’ desire to leave their job – 60% greater than the global average. While almost half of all Indian employees – at 41% – surveyed by Microsoft feel a lack of work-life balance.
If employees aren’t happy, they may eventually choose life and leave. A cultural shift at the top-management level, where employees are reassured that they will be supported when they are under pressure is a step forward in the right direction.
4. Embrace changes in workforce mindset
The Great Resignation’s repercussions are being seen in India too. 34% of PWC’s “India Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2022” respondents have affirmed that they are extremely likely to switch jobs to a new employer compared to 19% globally.
The survey’s key finding for these attrition rates is that “beyond financial reward, employees are driven by the opportunity for fulfilment, creativity and innovation, and being one’s true self at work.”
These aspirations form much of the ground on which the gig economy thrives. Integrating them with the stability of a full-time job could be an offer your employees might never want to give up.
This article was first published here.
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