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Online food delivery platform <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword> on Tuesday announced a skill initiative to offer free learning opportunities to thousands of delivery executives and their children. Swiggy has partnered with <keyword id="705347" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="khan-academy" source="Orion">Khan Academy</keyword>, a non-profit educational organisation to provide courses and certifications via its '<keyword id="1618942" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="skills-academy" source="Orion">Skills Academy</keyword>'. The company has also partnered with Google to use Read Along, a speech-based reading tool, to help children of delivery partners improve their reading skills. "With <keyword id="14973501" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="swiggy-skills" source="Orion">Swiggy Skills</keyword>, we have taken a step in fulfilling our responsibility towards our executives with the focus to create an opportunity for their growth and progress," said Girish Menon, Head of Human Resources at Swiggy. The academy will offer courses on non-functional topics such as spoken English, time management, hygiene and dressing, computer use, personal finance and mental-physical health and wellbeing. As many as 30,000 children, as well as young siblings, nieces and nephews of delivery partners can choose to access educational support through <keyword id="14973502" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="swiggy-skills-academy" source="Orion">Swiggy Skills Academy</keyword>, said the company. Within the first few days of its launch, 24,000 children have already signed up with the Swiggy Skills Academy. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-set-to-release-fy21-financial-report-sales-may-see-significant-drop/articleshow/94174895.cms">BYJU's set to release FY21 financial report, sales may see significant drop</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/apple-makes-iphone-14-series-more-climate-friendly-with-recycled-elements/articleshow/94173470.cms">Apple makes iPhone 14 series more climate-friendly with recycled elements</a>

Food delivery app Swiggy partners with Khan Academy to give free learning courses to gig workers

<ul><li>The number of <keyword id="14204114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="active-gig-workers" source="Orion">active gig workers</keyword> have increased by at least 50% in the last five months, as per <keyword id="14204113" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Taskmo-Gig-Index-report" source="Orion">Taskmo Gig Index report</keyword>.</li><li>Millennials and Gen Z between 19-25 years make up 48% of the gig workforce in the country.</li><li>The gig segment has seen a significant demand for workers across various sectors like quick commerce, healthtech, fintech and e-commerce.</li></ul>With companies like <keyword id="12724311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blinkit" source="Orion">Blinkit</keyword>, <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword>, <keyword id="12437554" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zepto" source="Orion">Zepto</keyword> coming up with a 10-min grocery delivery feature, there has been a steady growth in the demand for gig workers. Thus, Indian companies are desperately on the lookout for gig workers to fulfill roles in business development, field sales, last-mile delivery, digital promotion, brand promotion, and micro-influencers, according to <keyword id="14204112" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="taskmo-gig" source="Orion">Taskmo Gig</keyword> Index report. In fact, a 50% growth in active gig workers on the platform in the past five months was seen. The number of active gig workers registered on the platform in May was 60,000, a 15.38% growth in the workforce joining the <keyword id="3080230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gig-economy" source="Orion">gig economy</keyword> compared to the previous month, as per the data given in the report. A similar trend was also observed in the gig job opportunities as recruiters are strengthening their roots across tier-2 and 3 cities such as Pondicherry, Mirzapur, Patna, Jabalpur, and Kanpur, increasing the number of gig jobs overall. “Gig is the newest trend in the employment market and today we see its expansion across each and every industry in the country. Over the last two years, rapid tech advancements followed by the introduction of flexible work models have created an evolution in the gig economy at large,” said Prashant Janadri, co-founder, Taskmo. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="More Millennials and Gen Z are choosing gig work over full-time" comment="subhead" text="More Millennials and Gen Z are choosing gig work over full-time">More Millennials and Gen Z are choosing gig work over full-time</cmsannotation> The report further highlights that millennials and Gen Z between 19-25 years make up 48% of the gig workforce in the country which indicates that the youth in India are rapidly moving towards freelancing with a preference for flexible work schedules. Gig workers aged between 26 to 40 years hold 32% share in the gig economy, while gig workers in the age group of 41-60 years make up only 20% of the overall workforce. “Now we see every other company promoting gigification of traditional job roles. Furthermore, we have seen that emerging segments in gig are largely dominated by millennials and Gen Z today,” Janadri added. Women gig workers however make up only 28% of the gig workforce. “Gig continues to be a flexible model of work for India’s working women who are able to pick their jobs based on their area of interest, location, availability and experience. Women have been majorly employed in roles related to customer support, content monitoring and moderation, tele-sales, and audits and surveys,” says the report. Furthermore, the gig segment has seen a significant demand for workers across various sectors like quick commerce, healthtech, fintech and e-commerce. Cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai saw the maximum growth, according to the report. Due to the pandemic, more and more companies are hiring freelancers for job roles like business development executives, field sales executives, digital promoters, brand promoters and micro influencers. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/west-bengal-and-andhra-pradesh-have-the-most-proficient-techies-in-india/articleshow/92217804.cms">West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have the most proficient techies in India</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/covid-re-infections-are-mild-but-last-long-and-come-back-sooner-say-experts/articleshow/92224570.cms">COVID re-infections are mild but last long and come ‘back’ sooner say experts</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/nordvpn-to-shut-down-its-servers-in-india-by-june-26-2022/articleshow/92229519.cms">After rejecting the Indian government's new cyber security guidelines, NordVPN to shut down its servers in India by June 26</a>

Gig economy is dominated by millennials but women make up for less than a third of the workforce

While <keyword id="6354720" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ola" source="Orion">Ola</keyword> and tech-enabled logistics company <keyword id="67819" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="porter" source="Orion">Porter</keyword> scored zero on a scale of 1-10, <keyword id="1042120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uber" source="Orion">Uber</keyword> and <keyword id="3275685" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dunzo" source="Orion">Dunzo</keyword> received only one point, according to the 'Fairwork India 2023' report, spearheaded by the Centre for IT and Public Policy (CITAPP) at International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), in association with Oxford University. The report evaluated 12 platforms offering location-based services in sectors such as domestic and personal care, logistics, food delivery and transportation, in the country. This year, the report was structured around the theme of discrimination and alienation that often come up in experiences shared by platform workers. In a year that has seen the formulation of a significant regulation based on inputs from workers called The Rajasthan Platform Based <keyword id="7771650" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gig-workers" source="Orion">Gig workers</keyword> (Registration and Welfare Act, 2023, "we hope that highlighting the experiences of workers will point to the structural changes that platforms, consumers and the state alike will need to undertake if the platform economy is to offer its workers decent work," said Professors Balaji Parthasarathy and Janaki Srinivasan, principal investigators. Fairwork assessed platforms against five principles: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation. Each principle was broken down into two points: a first point and a second point that can only be awarded if the first point has been fulfilled. The report looked at 12 platforms, including Amazon Flex, Bigbasket, BluSmart, Dunzo, Flipkart, Ola, Porter, Swiggy, Uber, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato. No platform scored more than six out of the maximum of 10 points, and none scored all the first points across the five principles. In its first year of participation, ride-hailing platform aggregator BluSmart scored higher than more established platforms in its sector, with 5 points out of 10. "There is room for cautious optimism that BluSmart's operational model might represent a step towards better conditions for drivers in the platform economy," the report mentioned. Bigbasket, Flipkart and Urban Company were the only platforms with a minimum wage policy to ensure that all their workers earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs. "No platform made the second point of the Fair Pay principle, which requires platforms to provide sufficient evidence that workers earn at least the local living wage after work-related costs," the findings showed. Under the 'Fair Conditions' principle of providing adequate safety equipment and periodic safety training to their workers, Bigbasket, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the second point. Bigbasket, BluSmart, Urban Company, Zepto, and Zomato met the requirements for the second point under 'Fair Contracts' by adopting a change notification clause in their contracts, reducing asymmetries in liability, adopting a code of conduct for their subcontractors, and making the variables of pricing transparent where dynamic pricing was used. Under the 'Fair Management' principle, there was sufficient evidence only from BluSmart and Swiggy to meet the second point. "No platform could be awarded a point for 'Fair Representation' principle this year," said the report.

Ola, Porter, Uber & Dunzo worst digital platforms for gig workers: Report

<ul><li>The Indian Federation of App-based Transport workers (IFAT) have filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking social security benefits.</li><li>They demanded that gig workers should be considered as “unorganised workers”, which will make their employers liable to pay them certain benefits.</li><li>The lack of employment contracts between gig workers and new age platforms does not mean there is no employer-employee relationship, the petition read.</li></ul>Some of India’s gig workers — associated with new age firms like Uber, Ola, Zomato and Swiggy — are seeking government intervention to help them overcome the impact of the pandemic and make their employers pay for it. The Indian Federation of App-based Transport workers (IFAT) filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court two days ago, seeking their inclusion as “unorganised workers” or “wage workers” within the Unorganised Workers Social Welfare Security Act, 2008. The association, in collaboration with concerned individuals and organisations, noted that the denial of social security to gig workers and “platform workers’ has resulted in their exploitation through forced labour. The transport gig workers, in the petition accessed by Business Insider, noted that the failure to register them as unorganised workers or provide them with social security is violating their right to life and personal liberty as well as right to equality. They also added that app-based companies — Zomato, Swiggy, Uber, Ola and others — currently claim that they are in partnership with gig workers, therefore there is no contract of employment between the two parties. Hence, they want their hands off any responsibility or accountability over the lives and livelihood of the contractual workers associated with them. “The mere fact that their employers call themselves “aggregators” and enter into the so-called “partnership agreements” does not take away the fact that there exists a jural relationship of employer and employee; master and servant and worker within the meaning of all applicable laws,” the petition read. IFAT added that the contracts were made in a way to disguise the nature of the relations between the gig workers and these apps. They also cited a recent Supreme Court ruling in the United Kingdom, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-reclassify-uk-drivers-minimum-wage-benefits-supreme-court-defeat-2021-3">stated</a> that Uber Drivers are in fact workers in the company and are entitled to certain benefits. The workers’ association added that the transport gig workers in India are struggling with decreasing income, increasing fuel prices, immense pressure from loan recovery agents as well as state officials, who too are trying to make a living in this pandemic. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/zee-entertainment-merges-with-sony-pictures/articleshow/86416420.cms">Marriage Story! Zee gets a white knight in Sony</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/infosys-hdfc-bank-vedanta-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-september-22/slidelist/86415930.cms">Zee Entertainment, Infosys, HDFC Bank and other top stocks to watch out for on September 22</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/zee-entertainment-shares-hits-upper-circuit-after-two-independent-directors-resign-on-investors-demand/articleshow/86189814.cms">Zee Entertainment hits 33% after two independent directors resign on investor’s demand</a>

Gig workers move Supreme Court seeking social security benefits from Zomato, Swiggy, Ola and Uber

Amid the brouhaha over moonlighting in India, Cloud Major <keyword id="10875" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ibm" source="Orion">IBM</keyword> on Wednesday made it clear that the practice is not ethical and the company does not promote such behaviour at workplace. <keyword id="1342992" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sandip-patel" source="Orion">Sandip Patel</keyword>, Managing Director, IBM India, said that the company's position is exactly that of the overall industry in the country. "All of our workers when they are employed, they sign an agreement which says that they are going to be working full-time for IBM. So moonlighting is not ethically right for them to get into," he told reporters here. "That's our position now and you've already heard the industry position," he added. Moonlighting allows employees to work outside their primary working hours. Some startups and unicorns like <keyword id="6358977" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="swiggy" source="Orion">Swiggy</keyword> have encouraged the practice, while most of the traditional companies are calling it cheating. <keyword id="6354512" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="infosys" source="Orion">Infosys</keyword> has warned employees against moonlighting, saying that involvement in such practice can result in "disciplinary action including termination of employment". "No two-timing, no moonlighting", the company said in an internal memo, adding that it "strictly discourages dual employment". Wipro Chairman <keyword id="6419840" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="azim-premji" source="Orion">Azim Premji</keyword> recently said that the concept of a second job in addition to the regular job is "plain and simple" cheating. "There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating -- plain and simple," he emphasised. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/video-ai-startup-awiros-raises-7-million-in-series-a-funding/articleshow/94199580.cms">Video AI startup Awiros raises $7 million in Series A funding</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/flood-like-a-situation-highlights-how-cities-must-adapt-to-climate-change/articleshow/94199419.cms">Flood-like a situation highlights how cities must adapt to climate change</a>

Moonlighting not ethically right for full-time employees: IBM

<ul><li>Section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act gives deduction for three years to employers for hiring new people.</li><li>The current limit of this provision is ₹300,000 a year that effectively means that the compensation of these people should be less than ₹25,000.</li><li>If the limit is increased, it could help in boosting the salaries of and the number of jobs for gig workers.</li></ul>One of the major concerns raised by the gig workers — such as <keyword id="4235145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delivery-partners" source="Orion">delivery partners</keyword>, drivers and more — who work for companies like Zomato, Swiggy, BigBasket and Blinkit (Grofers), is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/bigbasket-flipkart-and-urban-company-may-have-paid-fair-wages-but-it-wasnt-enough-to-earn-a-living/articleshow/88946309.cms">the lack of decent compensation</a>. But what if we were to tell you that if an existing provision of the Income Tax Act is clarified and amended, it could raise salaries for the gig workers. Under Section 80JJAA provision of the Indian Income Tax Act, companies can get a tax deduction for hiring new people. If a company’s workforce increased by 50, the salary paid to these employees would make the company eligible for an additional deduction of 30% for the next three financial years, Hemal Zobalia, Partner at Deloitte Haskins &amp; Sells LLP explains. For example, if the company is paying ₹1000 annually to each of these 50 employees, it will get ₹300 as tax deduction for each of them for each of the next three years. Essentially, 90% of the first year’s salary, for each of the new employees, will be deducted from the company’s taxable profit. The goal of this provision is to create more permanent employment for those who are “low-skilled”, according to Jimit Devani, a partner at Deloitte Haskins &amp; Sells. The provision is applicable for employees whose salaries are ₹25,000 per month or less.Increasing the salary limit to ₹35,000-₹40,000 may push more companies to hire permanent employees instead of contractual ones. Meanwhile, Zobalia is of the belief that this would also help in further increasing their payout and salaries. But there is a bigger challenge here. This is not a widely availed incentive by the companies for several reasons. First, companies prefer to hire people on contract and keep them on a third party’s payroll. Such companies cannot avail tax benefit under the 88JJAA provision. Bringing people on to the payroll makes them eligible for other benefits like pension, insurance, and severance to name a few, Devani said. The third parties, however, do avail these tax benefits for employees that have been on their payroll for at least eight months, Devani added. The second issue with this provision is that the benefit is available only on the net addition of employees. Say, a company has a total of 10 employees. Five of them quit the company in a year, and six more are hired in the same year. While the company has six new employees, the net addition to the workforce is only one. And, so, the tax rebate is available only for one additional employee, and not all six. Improving this provision under the income tax law may go a long way in creating sustainable employment for people with less-valued skills, across a range of industries including the gig economy of which the likes of Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon and Flipkart are part of. The current state of salaries in the gig economy As per <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/urban-company-ola-uber-are-not-the-best-places-for-gig-workers/articleshow/88561764.cms">Fairwork India report of 2021</a>, most newage digital platforms — including Zomato, Swiggy, Uber, Dunzo, PharmEasy and Ola — do not offer fair wages to the contractual workers associated with them. Even though companies like Flipkart, Urban Company and BigBasket pay higher and better, it still may not be enough to make local living wage after costs, the report adds. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Avg income range, including cost </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Flipkart </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹14,500-₹25,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Urban Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹30,000* </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BigBasket </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹18,000-₹24,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zomato </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹20,000-₹30,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Swiggy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹10,000-₹15,000 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Note: Urban Company’s average salary excludes cost Source: Urban Company’s latest report, Apna.co It is important to note that there has been a further reduction in the payout for delivery executives due to decrease in rate cards and incentives, along with increased input costs of petrol and platform commissions. This has made matters worse for the Indian gig workers like delivery partners and drivers, the Fairwork report adds. Fairwork rates digital platforms on their treatment of gig workers who work for them. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2022-why-income-tax-slabs-may-not-change-this-year/articleshow/89179572.cms">Budget expectations 2022: Here’s why income tax slabs may not change this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/the-indian-government-has-spent-less-than-half-the-money-it-had-budgeted-for-capital-investments-so-far/articleshow/88852518.cms">The Indian government has spent less than half the money it had budgeted for capital investments, so far</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2022-expectation-in-higher-standard-deduction-tax-slabs-and-covid-insurance/slidelist/88891751.cms">From higher standard deduction and change in tax slabs to clarity on Covid insurance, here’s what tax experts want from Budget 2022</a>

There’s a way government can prod Zomato, Swiggy, Uber and Ola to increase salaries of delivery partners and drivers

The Australian state of Victoria has announced that it would extend its public health order issued under the pandemic for three months, citing the serious risk of the BA.2 <keyword id="1609796" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="omicron" source="Orion">Omicron</keyword> wave in the state. The extension would begin from Tuesday next week and would last three additional months. Victorian Premier <keyword id="1919155" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="daniel-andrews" source="Orion">Daniel Andrews</keyword> made the announcement on Wednesday night following advice from the state's acting chief health officer, Xinhua news agency reported. "This extension enables us to keep modest and sensible settings in place to reduce transmission and hospitalisation -- that means more support for health workers and limiting its impact on our community," said <keyword id="56217" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="andrews" source="Orion">Andrews</keyword>. "We don't want rules on any longer than they need to be -- we'll continue to follow the advice to protect what we've built while protecting our community." <keyword id="8764262" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="COVID" source="Orion">Covid</keyword> cases have surged in the state since the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 sub-strain has become the dominant strain of the virus in <keyword id="6355478" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="australia" source="Orion">Australia</keyword>. On Thursday, Victoria reported 12,314 new cases and 4 additional deaths. The highest single-day increase since the tail end of its initial Omicron wave at the beginning of February. All of Australia's states and territories are fighting similar battles against the raging subvariant. On Thursday, New South Wales (NSW) recorded 22,255 cases and 16 deaths. As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, the Australian Government Department of Health estimated that there are nearly half a million active cases of Covid across the nation. SEE ASLO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-is-now-the-sixth-richest-person-in-the-world-as-per-forbes-real-time/articleshow/90698849.cms">Gautam Adani is now the sixth richest person in the world</a><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-is-now-the-sixth-richest-person-in-the-world-as-per-forbes-real-time/articleshow/90698849.cms"> </a><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-swiggy-dream11-and-ola-are-among-the-highest-valued-startups-in-india/slidelist/90689106.cms">Byju’s, Swiggy, Dream11 and Ola are among the highest valued startups in India</a>

Australian state extends pandemic declaration and COVID-19 emergency measures for a further 3 months

<ul><li><keyword id="3080230" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="gig-economy">Gig economy</keyword>, which constitutes for over 1.4 million working professionals in India, has added 40,000 more women gig workers, according to an ET report. </li><li>According to Employment Outlook Report by TeamLease Services, the total number of women gig workers in India stands at 67,900. </li><li>The wage bracket of such employees ranges from ₹15,000 to ₹30,000.</li></ul>More women are finding work, thanks to the increasing gig economy but they are being paid less, widening the gender parity. India’s 1.4 million strong gig economy added 40,000 women this year, according to an <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/women-bag-frontline-roles-in-gig-economy-but-lag-behind-in-wages/articleshow/70442660.cms?from=mdr">ET report.</a> But, they are making 10% less than men. On an average, women make an average of ₹15,000 to ₹30,000 per month in the newly emerging gig economy. According to Employment Outlook Report by TeamLease Services, the total number of women gig workers in India stands at 67,900 — including employees at delivery hubs and fulfillment centres. In 2017, the percentage of women in salaried jobs stood at nearly 52%, as per the data by <a href="http://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Annual%20Report%2C%20PLFS%202017-18_31052019.pdf"> Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18</a>. Startup Hiring Food-tech and <keyword id="35621" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> players such as Uber, Ola, <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> and Swiggy, account for nearly 90% of the total gig workers in India. It includes workforce that is remotely managed by online platforms. Walmart owned e-commerce platform Flipkart has around 300 women working at sorting centres, packaging and in charge of hubs. Flipkart offers the best wages and provides for safety and health at workplace for gig workers in India, as per <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/in-india-flipkart-tops-the-fairness-quotient-for-gig-economy-workers-report/articleshow/68593359.cms">Oxford Internet Institute</a>. It is followed by food delivery platform Foodpanda, cab services platform Ola and Uber. Food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato too have female delivery partners, thanks to flexible working hours. Swiggy has over 700 women employees at its delivery hubs while Zomato has 500 all across. E-commerce platform Amazon has nearly 1,200 women employees in operational and managerial roles. India is the fifth largest country in terms of growth in flexi staff — which includes leased employees, contractual workers and temps hired from agencies. The country added nearly 1.2 million flexi workers in the last three years. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/in-india-flipkart-tops-the-fairness-quotient-for-gig-economy-workers-report/articleshow/68593359.cms">In India, Flipkart tops the ‘fairness’ quotient for gig economy workers: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/6-million-indians-will-be-in-the-gig-economy-within-two-years-thats-nearly-twice-the-current-size/articleshow/69854133.cms">6 million Indians will be in the gig economy within two years -- that's nearly twice the current size</a>

Gig economy added 40,000 new women workers, but at low wages

<ul><li>Even though the ‘<keyword id="3080230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gig-economy" source="Orion">gig economy</keyword> workforce’ is a new concept, the <keyword id="37465" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="film-industry" source="Orion">film industry</keyword> has been working with such a model for decades.</li><li>The Indian film industry employed over 2.5 lakh people in 2017 alone.</li><li>Despite the unionisation of the Indian film industry that protects the rights of freelancers, there are a lot of issues left to be dealt with.</li></ul>Gig workforce is the hottest new trend that has emerged with the rise of the digital economy leading to the advent of companies like Zomato, Swiggy and <keyword id="8681398" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-company" source="Orion">Urban Company</keyword>. Widely overlooked, but the concept of hiring contractual employees has been around for decades, if not centuries. That’s right. The Indian film industry has been one of the biggest employers of gig economy workers since its beginning. The Indian film industry employed over <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/731218/employment-in-the-film-industry-india/">2.5 lakh </a>people in 2017 alone. Business Insider hosted Academy Award winner and Indian film producer Guneet Monga and Urban Company’s cofounder Varun Khaitan in its Future of Work event — held on September 16 and 17 — to throw more light on the topic. Monga said that the film industry in general has been employing several freelancers for decades, whether it is light boys, dancers, junior artists, art directors, cinematographers and more. The term <keyword id="7771650" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gig-workers" source="Orion">gig workers</keyword> has come up with the advent of the digital economy. “It can seem unstructured, but it actually works very well in the <keyword id="278613" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freelance" source="Orion">freelance</keyword> business there… There is a union in this segment and that brings about a structure. But there are also some major challenges that come with it,” she added. She elaborated that the many freelancers have spoken about how difficult it is to get into the union or how expensive it is. Besides this, the segment does not get health benefits, does not come under labour codes and more, even though the payments are fixed due to the existence of a union. Watch More: What film producer Guneet Monga talks about unionisation in Indian film industry and what challenges it presents <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Khaitan, on the other hand, elaborated how Urban Company, an at-home services startup, has managed to overcome such challenges in the beauty and home segment. He noted that a salon or a service shop would employ 10-15 professionals and were essentially the “middlemen”, therefore a professional’s income would be capped. Urban Company has not only offered a more flexible working environment, but also increased their take home income and offered them health benefits. Khaitan also noted that allowing these service professionals to get in touch with customers directly has provided them with more respect and business prepositions as well. “There is actually a very high price point here [Indian film industry] even to become a part of the Union. And then there is a supply of enough and more people are constantly getting inducted, but there is definitely a bottleneck on how unions function. They do protect them [freelancers] in terms of providing for jobs, but the kind of structures that you [Urban Company] are talking about is still, I feel, not in the best shape here right now. And this has just been our industry that has been thriving on freelance,” Monga added. She elaborated that while the Indian film industry has been striving for freelancers, it's not with a vision of bringing people together or offering insurance or health benefits or looking into labour laws. Watch More: What Urban Company’s Varun Khaitan had to say on the current conditions of freelancers in Indian film industry <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Khaitan, sharing his experience, said “There are middlemen who claim to be good representatives and good samaritans of the workers, but are actually not. They are in some sense the heart of the problem, because a few things that just came up in this chat show there is no sense of balance between supply and demand in what is happening across the trade in the film industry and what that leads to is there is no sense of actual monthly earnings. So everyone just fights for what I can make on this job and it leads to an unheadly spiral.” SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/the-only-way-to-beat-the-bots-from-taking-your-job-is-to-be-more-human/articleshow/86282273.cms">Future of Work 2021: The only way to beat the bots from taking your job is to be more human</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/easemytrip-touches-market-cap-of-a-billion-dollars/articleshow/86285130.cms">EaseMyTrip touches market cap of a billion dollars</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/biocon-hero-motocorp-tvs-motor-banks-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-september-17/articleshow/86281250.cms">Biocon, Hero MotoCorp, TVS Motor, banks and other top stocks to watch out for on September 17</a>

Here is what the Indian film industry can learn from gig economy firms like Zomato and Urban Company

<ul><li>Indians were the top immigrant group to take up residence in <keyword id="6356687" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="canada" source="Orion">Canada</keyword> this year (January to March).</li><li>The country also plans to welcome over 4,32,000 new immigrants this year, as per an Economic Times report.</li><li>The <keyword id="151242" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Canadian-government" source="Orion">Canadian government</keyword> announced on April 22 that Express Entry draws will soon resume and applications for candidates to apply for permanent residents will begin early July.</li></ul>Canada is one of the most popular choices among Indians to either work or for higher education. According to the figures of the first quarter, which was released earlier in April by the Canadian government, Indians were the top immigrant group to take-up residence in Canada this year (January to March). In the first three months of this year itself, the country had welcomed 1,08,000 migrants including Indians. In 2021, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country admitted a record 405,000 new immigrants in its history so far. The country also plans to welcome over 4,32,000 new immigrants this year, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/indians-top-as-canada-admits-108000-new-immigrants-in-the-first-quarter/articleshow/90587538.cms?from=mdr">as per</a> an Economic Times report. To hit its target number, the country announced on April 22 that Express Entry draws will soon resume and applications for candidates to apply for permanent residents will begin early July. Express Entry is a programme for permanent immigration for <keyword id="7701922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Canadian-Experience-Class" source="Orion">Canadian Experience Class</keyword> (CEC), <keyword id="1040205" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Federal-Skilled-Worker-Program" source="Orion">Federal Skilled Worker Program</keyword> (FSWP), and <keyword id="10218776" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Federal-Skilled-Trades-Program" source="Orion">Federal Skilled Trades Program</keyword> (FSTP). Eligibility for CEC — Skilled workers with 3 years of Canadian work experience before applying for Express Entry. Eligibility for FSWP — Skilled workers with foreign work experience must meet education and other criterias. Eligibility for FSTP — Skilled workers who are qualified in a skilled trade and must have a valid job offer or a certificate of qualification. Canada has rolled out new policies to address the labour shortage in the country.“ As Canada continues to recover from the pandemic, employers are actively looking to fill hundreds of thousands of vacant positions in all sectors across the country. Immigration is more important than ever to fuel Canada’s economy, as our strong economic growth is now outpacing our ability to find and keep workers,” said the press release rolled out by the government of Canada. International immigrants whose stay visa is soon to expire can stay a little longer through this new temporary policy. <keyword id="5792642" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sean-fraser" source="Orion">Sean Fraser</keyword>, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said in the release, “ A new temporary policy that will give recent international graduates with expiring temporary status an opportunity to stay in Canada longer, so that they can continue to gain work experience and have a better chance at qualifying for permanent residency.” He further said, “Starting in summer 2022, former international students who are in Canada and have a post-graduation work permit expiring between January and December 2022 will qualify for an additional open work permit of up to 18 months. We are exploring a simplified, expeditious process for this, and details will be made available in the weeks ahead.” The Federal High Skilled processing inventory has been cut in half, decreasing from 119,000 people in September 2021 to just 48,000 people in March 2022, said Fraser. According to the ET report, over 95,000 post-graduation work permits (PGWPs) are going to expire in 2022 and around 50,000 of them could enjoy the benefits of this new open work permit. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Getting a permanent residence is easier now" comment="subhead" text="Getting a permanent residence is easier now">Getting a permanent residence is easier now</cmsannotation> In order to attract more foreign immigrants to fill up the job vacancies in Canada, the country has doubled the number of permanent residence decisions made in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same time period in 2021. “ From January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022, we have made over 156,000 final decisions on permanent residence applications and, through these efforts, Canada welcomed over 113,000 new permanent residents in the first quarter of 2022,” revealed the release. Canada also rolled out a ‘limited-time pathway’ programme for temporary residents to apply for permanent residence in 2021. Currently, new applications are closed for now and the processing of the applications that came in 2021 is going-on for now. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/swiggy-to-upskill-delivery-boys-to-become-company-employees/articleshow/91069593.cms">Swiggy to upskill delivery boys to become company employees</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/top-universities-producing-the-most-number-of-ceos-guess-which-indian-institute-is-included-in-the-list/slidelist/91066313.cms">top universities producing the most number of CEOs — guess which Indian institute is included in the list</a>

You Searched For "swiggy workers" and got 10 results

Food delivery app Swiggy partners with Khan Academy to give free learning courses to gig workers

IANS

Gig economy is dominated by millennials but women make up for less than a third of the workforce

Vaamanaa Sethi

Ola, Porter, Uber & Dunzo worst digital platforms for gig workers: Report

IANS

Gig workers move Supreme Court seeking social security benefits from Zomato, Swiggy, Ola and Uber

Kritti Bhalla

Moonlighting not ethically right for full-time employees: IBM

IANS

There’s a way government can prod Zomato, Swiggy, Uber and Ola to increase salaries of delivery partners and drivers

Kritti Bhalla

Australian state extends pandemic declaration and COVID-19 emergency measures for a further 3 months

IANS

Gig economy added 40,000 new women workers, but at low wages

Prerna Sindwani

Here is what the Indian film industry can learn from gig economy firms like Zomato and Urban Company

Kritti Bhalla

Planning to study in or migrate to Canada? Know about the new immigration policies announced by the country

Vaamanaa Sethi

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