THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC REALITIES OF GIG WORKERS IN QUICK COMMERCE

Abstract

The report uses inputs from 75 quick commerce delivery gigs working for platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Minutes and BB Now. The motivation behind the report was to ascertain the income, effort and daily routine associated with the gig, for those involved in quick commerce delivery. A consistent finding among those who participate in gig work for a relatively short duration was that a majority view this job, as part of long-term employment, as unrealistic. Most people enter quick commerce delivery for quick cash and, for the majority of those who view gig work this way, they are engaged in this job as an interim employment or source of revenue while they navigate through job searches and financial challenges. This form of gig work seems to have also attracted some graduates working as quick commerce delivery gigs which indicates a rise in the prevalence of such jobs, especially in the urban areas. For the gig workers, it appears to be the unstable income stream and variable daily earning that remains problematic. The income fluctuations, ranging from stable-to-precarious, result from variations in the orders received, in particular, on different days and in addition, an employee’s work day can be severely affected if a large part of one’s earnings are dependent on incentives for orders, as the amount of work that an employee can realistically receive is subject to an increase if an employer decides to issue an incentive programme, or equally to an arbitrary fluctuation. These fluctuating daily earnings make it difficult for employees to save or budget for the future or their monthly expenses. Although, to a degree, the system provides some flexibility with how hours are worked, many workers tend to base their schedules around the peak earning hours to earn money. This is in particular the case for evenings, the week and the weekend period, at which point earnings are significantly higher and many workers thus structure the amount of work they receive throughout their typical schedule or time availability around these periods.