The document discusses the impact of COVID-19 on India's workforce environment. It notes that India saw rapid economic growth and expansion of the "gig economy" in 2019, but the pandemic has disrupted the economy. It provides insights into India's large workforce, the growing gig economy, issues facing workers, changing business models, and expectations for recovery from June 2020. The pandemic is accelerating changes like remote work and a greater focus on skills training and new technologies.

1. THE INDIAN WORKFORCE ENVIRONMENT
AND THE EFFECTS OF COVID 19

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INTRODUCTION
This presentation captures the essence of the
current workforce and employment situation in
India.
What we saw in 2019 was a rapid growth of the
economy, along with an increase in the “Gig”
economy. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, like
other economies, the Indian economy has hit a
road-block. The economy has to adapt. What we
have now are emerging business models, new
experiences and a new way of working. This
presentation gives unique insights on the impact
of COVID-19 on an emerging economy’s
workforce environment and how the world of
work is adapting to these changes.

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CONTENTS
• India’s Workforce Dynamics
• Expected Future of the employment landscape
• The ‘Gig Economy’ in India today
• Issues facing the Indian worker
• What do the Millennials think?
• New & Emerging business models
• Recovery Expected from June 2020
• Learnings from Covid 19
• Covid 19 and the new way of working

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INDIA’S WORKFORCE DYNAMICS
▪ India's Gig Economy Set To Hit $ 455 Billion By 2023~
▪ India's Population reached 1,341.0 million people in Mar
2020. Unemployment Rate of India increased to 5.4 % in Dec
2019^.
▪ 70 Million new workers are expected to enter workforce by
2023, Including 59 million below 30 years of age*
▪ India aims to increase the turnover of its digital and the
Information Technology industry to $1 trillion by 2022 (from
a current value of $270 billion), through start-ups, financial
technology and new-age technologies**
~ https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-cm/india-s-gig-economy-set-to-hit-455-billion-by-2023-
120012300579_1.html
^ https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/india/labour-force-participation-rate
* National Skill Development Corporation
**https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-eyeing-to-become-a-trillion-dollar-digital-economy-by-
2022-117052301385_1.html

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EXPECTED FUTURE OF THE
EMPLOYMENT LANDSCAPE
Unorganized Sector (90%) (540 mn)
Organized Sector (10%) (60 mn)
Employment in Traditional Sectors
Micro entrepreneurs supported by Govt. schemes
Employer–entrepreneurs in technology enabled
employment models:
▪ Freelance workers on online platform models
▪ SME and artisan entrepreneurs on ecommerce
platforms
▪ Delivery workers and service providers in the
ecommerce ecosystem
▪ Employees in tech start-ups
Employer–entrepreneur models in the agriculture sector
Source: E&Y Report: Future of Jobs in India - A 2022 perspective

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THE ‘GIG ECONOMY’ IN INDIA TODAY
The gig economy is growing fast in India, encouraged by a rise in
the number of start-ups, coworking spaces, and crowdsourcing
platforms.*
Industry experts anticipate that 65 percent of the 4 million jobs
in India’s IT and ITES industry today will likely change over the
next five years.**
▪ Exponential technological change resulting from artificial
intelligence (AI) and automation, coupled with the
growing talent pool
About 6 in 10 gig employees believe that current jobs will
become obsolete in the next 10 years, highlighting the need for
reskilling and multiskilling.^
*FICCI, Future of jobs in India—2.0, accessed August 29, 2019; PTI, “Gig economy on rise; 70% firms used gig workers in 2018,”
Economic Times, March 1, 2019.
**NASSCOM, “futureskills: A NASSCOM initiative,”
^Based on analysis of findings of Deloitte’s survey of deans, students, and employees in March 2019.

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ISSUES FACING THE INDIAN WORKER
According to the World Bank, automation threatens 69% of the jobs
in India and the country has a time window of two to three years, to
bring about large-scale reskilling reforms.*
Further, over the next decade, about 250 million young people will
be joining the workforce as they graduate from colleges. 4.75 million
people join the labor force in India per year.**
▪ The total employee base of the IT-BPM Industry is around 3.9
million^.
There is a risk of gig worker retention. As digital gig platforms enable
independent workers to perform tasks on a temporary basis, gig
workers may attach a certain degree of casualization in their work
due to the absence of traditional employer-employee relations.
*https://www.businesstoday.in/management/career/beware-automation-threatens-69-per-cent-jobs-in-india-world-
bank/story/238164.html
**https://www.indiaspend.com/only-4-75-million-join-indias-workforce-annually-not-12-million-as-claimed-70548/
^NASSCOM-Mckinsey. Perspective 2025 – Shaping the Digital Revolution (2015)

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WHAT DO THE MILLENNIALS THINK?
▪ Approximately 97 percent of employees surveyed by
Deloitte believe that it is important for the existing students
to upskill and reskill themselves.*
▪ As per Deloitte’s Global Millennial Survey 2019,
approximately 49 percent of millennials believe that new
technologies will augment their jobs.
o These findings hint at the need for students and
employees to cultivate a mindset of being continually
on the lookout for learning and acquiring multiple
skills.
▪ For the existing workforce and the workforce of the future,
work entails not just reskilling, but multiskilling and lifelong
learning. This belief strongly resonates with the majority of
employees Deloitte has surveyed
* Analysis of findings of Deloitte’s survey of deans, students, and employees in March 2019.

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NEW & EMERGING BUSINESS MODELS
▪ The Online Retail Industry - is anticipating significant growth as ordering goods online through e-commerce
channels becomes the new normal over the previous model of buying from brick and mortar retail stores~
▪ Digital Marketplaces - sign up demand-driven service providers skilled in niche areas such as beauty,
fitness, plumbing, electrical repairs, etc. and offers these services to consumers on a contractual basis as
per requirements e.g. Urbanclap.
▪ Restaurant Self Delivery - instead of paying websites that serve as aggregators e.g. Swiggy, Zomato etc.,
restaurants are looking to deliver themselves to save cost by not having to share revenue and also allow
for transparency in the supply-chain.*
▪ Self Generated Franchisee - especially prevalent in the smaller town and cities, where a person with
internet access becomes the connector for the community or the village at large*
▪ Cyber Security – as an emerging model as firms look to invest in protecting their client and internal
information. Data breach can cost a business in terms on Brand Casualty.^
~ https://m.economictimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/how-e-commerce-platforms-are-lending-a-new-lease-of-life-to-offline-retailers-in-the-face-of-covid-
19/articleshow/75771691.cms
*https://inc42.com/infocus/the-reset/gig-economy-rules-being-rewritten-in-post-covid-19-world/
^ https://yourstory.com/2020/05/emerging-startup-opportunities-insurtech-post-coronavirus

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RECOVERY EXPECTED
FROM JUNE 2020
▪ More than 120 million people lost their
jobs in the month of April
▪ June 2020 witnessed a rapid drop in
unemployment after being 23.5% in April
and May, to 11.6% in the 2nd week of June.
▪ The fall in employment was quite rapid,
but the recovery has been much slower
▪ Rural India suffered a lower impact,
remaining close to 20%, with a few spikes
to 25%
▪ Due to the lifting of lockdowns, we are
seeing the return of labor to participate in
the economy
Source: Center for Monitoring Indian Economic Activity

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LEARNINGS FROM COVID 19
▪ Workforces rallied behind their employers, as a collaborative
effort helped to minimize the disruption
▪ Adoption of Virtual Tools for collaboration
o 75% of CXOs said they already had tools for collaboration
in the firm and did not have to make new investments
▪ Employee productivity of remote workers has increased in
some part
▪ This crisis has brought Employee Engagement to the forefront
▪ Agility has proven to be a strength for firms, as it allowed them
to get back to work with minimum disruption
▪ Business have started thinking about alternative workforce
models and leveraging the Gig Economy
Source: Deloitte Future of Work Accelerated Survey and CXO Conversations

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COVID 19 AND THE NEW WAY OF WORKING
We can expect quite a few changes in the Work Environment in India, with employees having no choice
but to work remotely:
▪ Most meetings will be replaced by Emails, IM and
Video Calls
▪ Expect Reduction in Business Travel
▪ Employee Engagement and Retention to take a front
seat in Company Objectives
▪ Mandatory on the Job Medical Screenings
▪ Increase in productivity as more workers start
working from home, save time and stress of
travelling
▪ Home Office Set Up Allowance to become a New
Perk
▪ No Standardized Work Hours
▪ Acceleration in Task Automation
▪ Development of the Digital Infrastructure

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THANK YOU. QUESTIONS?
Sameer Srivastava
ssrivastava@workspend.com
+91 900 8777 422
+91 11 4601 0368