6 million Indians will be in the gig economy within two years -- that's nearly twice the current size

• India has emerged as the fifth largest country for flexi-staffing, behind the US, China, Brazil and Japan.
  
• The country added 1.2 million flexi workers since 2015, and is expected to employ nearly 3 million by 2021.
  
• Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana have most growth opportunities for the flexi-workers, according to India Staffing Federation.
• The growth has accelerated the formalisation of jobs, adding nearly seven million jobs over the last three years.

India has become the fifth largest country in terms of growth in flexi staff — which includes leased employees, contractual workers and temps hired from agencies.

The domestic flexi workforce has grown by 16.3% from 2.1 million in 2015 to 3.3 million in 2018, according to a report by India Staffing Federation (ISF).

This makes India the fifth largest country progressing in flexi-staffing — behind the US, China, Brazil and Japan.

Much similar to gig-economy that hires freelance workers or on short-term contracts, Indian economy is boosting its flexible workforce, which has the potential to emerge as a primary job source.

This is key in a country with looming job crisis as the unemployment among the young urban job seekers has been on the rise for three quarters now — which stood at 23.7% in the December 2018 quarter. India reportedly adds nearly a million youth in the workforce every month.

India added nearly 1.2 million flexi workers in the last three years. This number is expected to multiply to 6.1 million over the next three years, accelerating the growth to 22.7% by 2021.

Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana seem to have more growth opportunities for flexi-workers.

"The higher CAGR for flexi-staffing in 2018-21 also spells good tidings for the space which truly is well on its way to emerge among the top 3-4 markets for flexi-staffing worldwide in couple of years," R P Yadav, vice president of ISF told The Asian Age.

Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), IT and retail will account for over half of the flexi staff in India in 2021, ISF noted.

Growth in flexi-workforce has come with a formalisation of jobs, thanks to GST and demonetization, according to ISF. The amendments in GST has eliminated the leverage given to the unorganised companies in India.

The Indian government formalised nearly seven million jobs in the last three year, which is expected to hit 100 million by 2021.

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