India's Gig Workforce May Reach 21 Million By 2030, Says Report

New Delhi, July 16: India’s gig internet workforce has grown to over 6 million monthly active workers and could expand to 17–21 million by 2030, potentially meeting nearly 70 per cent of the country’s annual non-farm job creation requirement, a report said on Thursday.

The report from Redseer said over 30 per cent of the projected 17–21 million gig workers are expected to be first-time entrants to the workforce.

The report added that gig work is emerging as an entry point into India’s labour market by offering low entry barriers, flexibility and autonomy, creating the country’s best stop-gap, transient and supplemental earning opportunity.

Roughly 54 per cent of surveyed workers were not in paid work before joining gig platforms.

Nearly 70 per cent of gig workers agreed that gig improves future job prospects "as gig work builds transferable skills and demonstrable experience that open the door to better opportunities".

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Gig Sector Expanding Rapidly

The report found that the gig internet sector already supports over 6 million monthly active workers across delivery, ride-hailing and home services and is expected to scale at a compound annual growth rate of about 24–29 per cent through 2030.

Platforms are expanding reach into emerging consumption centres beyond established metros and Tier-1 cities, opening flexible earning opportunities for first-time workforce entrants, women and students.

Another recent report said that India’s gig hiring landscape is evolving from a volume-led opportunity into a capability-led ecosystem, with demand shifting towards enterprise-led hiring, Tier-2 talent hubs and high-skill remote roles.

White-Collar Gig Jobs Rise

The broader monthly hiring market moderated in March, with the overall index down 5 per cent month-on-month and largely stable on a year-on-year basis, up 1 per cent.

White-collar gig jobs grew from 6.8 million in FY25 to 8.23 million in FY26 and are projected to cross approximately 10.2 million by FY27, while project-based hiring is steadily becoming a mainstream model.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)