According to a recent survey, the number of new freelancers in India increased by 46% from Q1 to Q2 2020
If recent trends are any indication, freelancing in India has a bright future. A the number of people are opting to work the way they want: when they want, when they want, and doing the work they want. According to a McKinsey report, the freelance or gig economy employs roughly 20% to 30% of professionals in developed markets. By 2025, India’s freelance industry is expected to expand to $20 to $30 billion.
Due to COVID-19, the Indian economy is currently ascending towards a very unpredictable transition, with increasing levels of unemployment, employee discontent, job-hopping, and entrepreneurship. As a result, due to its universal flexibility and independent lifestyle, freelancing has steadily crept into the Indian mindset. In India, the future of freelancing appears bright. Many people are opting to work according to their preferences, such as where they want to work, when they want to work, and what they want to work on. In India, freelancing numbers are expected to reach $20 to $30 billion by 2025.
The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is also being felt by freelancers. Freelancers are bouncing back with increased sales as the restrictions imposed to stop the spread of Covid-19 are eased. The report said, “Covid-19 brought a short-term slowdown in revenue growth, but it bounced back even stronger with 28% growth from May to June.” Other common markets for gig employees include the United States, Pakistan, and Ukraine. The study went on to say that the pandemic has changed the future of work because of increased technological acceptance, and that “a permanent change in the global workforce is unavoidable.”
“While full-time staff will continue to be needed in the future, more and more businesses will recruit remote and freelance workers for a broader range of tasks,” according to the study. Today’s gig economy, fuelled by social media, global marketplaces, and online payment channels, provides the global workforce with all of the resources they need to carve out their own career path, using a freelance work lifestyle to develop a full-time career, a “side-hustle,” or even simply expand their career post-retirement.
Freelancers are working hard to create their own brands. They believe that they “own themselves” and that no one can take that away from them. As a freelancer, they keep all of the work they put into their career, network, and clients. They are constructing their own equity, not that of their employer. It can’t be taken away by a layoff, a market crash, a contraction, or a reorganisation. No one has the authority to dismiss you. Change is the only constant, and this is so now more than ever in the job market. Freelancing accepts the concept of transition, making the freelancer less susceptible to it. With the introduction of gig sites, the freelance world has already undergone a transformation. The main accelerants of the freelance marketplace models are the pandemic, modern work culture, and organisations’ change away from conventional work practises. Freelance marketplaces are expected to reshape the future of work in the business world as a result of this.
