Demand for IT gig workers grew 157% in H12023, says job firm Awign

At a time when the tech sector witnessed a spree of layoffs and slowdown in new hiring, IT firms have opted for temporary jobs in order to turn some their fixed costs variable.

Work fulfillment platform Awign has reported a 157 per cent rise in demand for such jobs in first half of 2023.

Awign says most of the demand has arisen for highly-skilled tech professionals at mid-level and senior positions with 2-7 years' experience.

Tech roles such as Java, Python, React, Vue, Angular, Data Science, and Full-stack development along with such as Go lang, ML, Microservices, C, C Sharp, PHP, Dot net, and Laravel have been highly sought after.

According to Awign Expert, a division specialising in highly-skilled gig workers at the work-as-a-service platform, the participation of such workers in the gig economy for contract-based jobs has also surged 78 per cent in the first two quarters of CY2023.

It is important to note that Indian IT companies have been facing the brunt of cost optimisation during the past few quarters due to a cut down in discretionary spending by clients across the sector.

On the other hand, 1,058 tech companies have laid off as many as 164,709 employees in 2022 according to Layoffs.fyi.

"In the current landscape of cost-cutting, business optimisation and layoffs, we are witnessing a surge in high-skilled gig workers' participation in the gig economy.

"Enterprises recognise the advantages of tapping into this talent pool for highly-skilled professionals on-demand, leading to cost savings and operational efficiency.

"Our platform enables businesses to leverage high-skilled gig workers across industries, transforming work dynamics and providing meaningful opportunities in these challenging times," said Annanya Sarthak, co-founder & chief executive officer (CEO) of Awign.

The growth of a workforce preferring flexible jobs has been distributed across India, but 50 per cent of participation comes from tier-1 cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.

Thirty five per cent of these professionals hail from tier-2 cities like Coimbatore, Nashik, and Mysore, and 15 per cent from tier-3 towns including Raipur and Vijayawada.

With unstable global economic conditions, Awign Expert is also witnessing the participation of high-skill gig workers from countries such as the US, Canada, UAE, and SEA, the company said on Tuesday.