Skilling India’s Gig Workers: Policy Gaps and Industry’s Role
India’s rapidly expanding gig and platform economy has emerged as a crucial driver of the economic engine, powered by young demographics, digital adoption, and rapid urbanization.
India’s gig workforce is projected to grow from 7.7 million in 2020-21 to 23.5 million by 2029-30. At present, 47% of the gig workers are in medium skill jobs, 22% in high skill, and about 31% in low-skill job. However, trends show that the concentration of workers in the medium skills is gradually declining, while low skill and high-skill categories are growing. It may be expected that while the domination of medium skills would continue till 2030, gig workers with specialized and technical skills will also emerge to hold a larger share in the coming decade.
The Current Policy Landscape
Recognizing the growing role of gig and platform economy, the government formally brought gig and platform workers under the Code on Social Security 2020, which came into effect on 21 November 2025 as part of the latest labour reforms. This Code formally recognized gig workers and established a dedicated social security fund funded by aggregator contributions.
Gig and platform workers can also self-register on the government’s eShram portal, creating a comprehensive national database to support social security, skill development, targeted delivery of welfare schemes, and evidence-based policymaking. As of December 2025, e-Shram had registered over 310 million unorganised workers, including more than 500k gig and platform workers. On the digital infrastructure side, the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) provides workers access to skilling, reskilling and certification opportunities, including NSQF-aligned qualifications and digital learning programmes. Identifying Policy Gaps in Skilling.
Gig workers are currently covered under existing generic schemes for unorganised workers, such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), rather than any separate or exclusive priority-category scheme designed for them. This means they remain on the periphery of welfare architecture despite being a distinct class of workers with their own patterns of work and market demands.
These workers are not yet distinctly and comprehensively identifiable in conventional official labour-force statistics, limiting the ability to accurately estimate the sector and design targeted interventions. There is also a lack of access to institutional credit, which hinders workers transitioning into micro-entrepreneurship or setting up their own platforms. Providing better cash flow-based loans to workers, rather than collateral-based loans can help cater to the needs of those new to credit, while offering greater future security.
Industry’s Role in Skilling
Industry-led skilling and upskilling programmes can play a critical role in improving workers’ productivity, earnings and career mobility. Such programmes can also enable workers from traditional and informal occupations, including construction and driving, to transition into platform-enabled opportunities and augment their incomes Industry could also explore portable digital skill passports for workers. Such a framework could support career progression and enable workers to continuously upgrade and demonstrate their skills as they move across jobs and platforms. Industry can also play an important role in undertaking gender-sensitisation and accessibility-awareness programmes for workers and strengthening opportunities for women and persons with disabilities. The flexibility offered by platform-based work can potentially enable greater workforce participation among groups that have traditionally faced barriers to formal employment building a Resilient Gig Ecosystem.
Gig workers form an important part of the workforce today and it is important to move them from informal work to secure, recognized, and sustainable livelihood. While the development of digital infrastructure provides a foundation, industry participation is the engine for skilling.
Targeted skilling, portable skills & credentials, and social security benefits such as life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, and pension, alongside empowering gig workers with industry-relevant skills, will help India strengthen its workforce base for a global standing, harness its demographic dividend, and build a future-ready workforce.
