Into the World of Gig Economy -Ahmad Bhuiyan

To save time in this busy life, that you can fix the car before leaving the house through Uber or Pathao app, or you can order to bring food home without going to the restaurant is the blessing of Gig Economy. Because of pandemic shocks, many have started to earn money sitting at home through freelancing. All of this is a part of gig economy.

What is Gig Economy?

Gig economy is a kind of part-time work system. There are many organizations that do not hire permanent staff but hire some specialist staff on special terms for a short period of time. They may not have time to work. The staff works according to the demand at the specified time. Maybe in the morning he gave a lecture at a university, in the afternoon he spent a few hours working on the Uber app, in the evening he worked outsourcing for a while. This is the gig economy. Every work is respected by everyone in the society. The staff is happy. Plus, He gets freedom of work.
Technology experts say that gig economy is also called shared economy. The same resource can be shared by many together. In this way, skilled workers can be put to special jobs. Stakeholders also think that since there is a shortage of skilled workers in technology in our country, the issue of resource sharing has come to the fore at this time.

It is known that gig economy has existed in our country for a long time. This model has been used for long in freelance outsourcing, ride sharing, website development, design, co-working space, etc. But at this time after the onset of covid-19, technology entrepreneurs are realizing the issue more. Corona epidemic shut down many software offices and product manufacturers during the lockdown. They have to work hard to pay for office rent, staff salaries, utility charges and other expenses. In order to save the organization, gig economy came to the fore at a time when the entrepreneurs could not survive even by reducing the number of offices, leaving the field, cutting the staff, reducing the salary and other benefits. Technology entrepreneurs are now trying to survive by adopting this economy.
Gig economy is a part-time job, which dependent on Internet. That means there is no specific office hours. E-commerce, online marketplaces, social media, ridesharing, graphic design, website development, co-working spaces, data entry, etc. are the means of work that have given hope to the younger generation. The more technologically advanced and dynamic a country is, the more it leads in gig economy.

At present, the popular term among the youth of Bangladesh and all over the world is Gig Economy or Shared Economy. At a time when many people around the world are losing their jobs and living in miserable conditions due to the pandemic, young people are using technology to earn a huge sum of money at home and become self-sufficient.
It is estimated that by 2020, about 40 percent of American jobs will be affected by this trend. Bangladesh is also not lagging behind in gig economy. Bangladesh is second only to India in terms of gig economy in South Asia. According to a survey by the Oxford Internet Institute, India ranks first with 24 per cent online jobs, Bangladesh ranks 2nd with 16 per cent online jobs and the US ranks 3rd with 12 per cent online jobs.

Bangladesh context of gig economy:

In a developing country like Bangladesh, gig economy is a blessing. The gig economy will play an important role in turning the wheel of the country’s economy, which is plagued by overpopulation and unemployment.
Statistics show that among the educated unemployed in this country, the number of unemployed with bachelor’s and master’s degree is the highest. Through this gig economy, it is possible to turn this huge number of unemployed youths into skilled human resources by getting them skilled in technology and out of the curse of unemployment. As a result, the youth will be self-reliant on the one hand and will play an important role in advancing the development projects of the country on the other hand.
However, as there are temporary jobs in the gig economy, there is no less concern around this field. Therefore, by researching the Gig the direction of the economy, the direction of income distribution, how much impact it will have on public life, the creation of quality employment, the Gig Economy must be used to successfully improve the country’s economic situation.
The gig economy will continue to expand in terms of future demand. So this opportunity should be utilized. The country needs to turn unemployed people into human resources so that by 2040 it can be able to name as a developed country.

The writer is undergraduate student of Economics, University of Dhaka