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Tag: Gig Workers

  • India’s gig workers win legal status, but access to social security remains elusive | TechCrunch

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    India has granted legal status to millions of gig and platform workers under its newly implemented labor laws, marking a milestone for the country’s delivery, ride-hailing and e-commerce workforce — yet with benefits still unclear and platforms beginning to assess their obligations, access to social security remains out of reach.

    The recognition stems from the Code on Social Security — one of four labor laws the Indian government brought into effect on Friday — more than five years after the parliament first passed them in 2020. It is the only part of the new framework that addresses gig and platform workers, as the remaining three codes — covering wages, industrial relations, and workplace safety — do not extend minimum earnings, employment protections or working-condition guarantees to this rapidly expanding workforce.

    India has one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing gig economies, with industry estimates suggesting that more than 12 million people deliver food, drive ride-hailing cabs, sort e-commerce packages, and perform other on-demand services for digital platforms. The sector has become a critical source of employment, especially for young and migrant workers shut out of formal job markets, and is projected to expand further as companies scale logistics, retail, and hyperlocal delivery.

    Companies from Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart to Indian quick-delivery apps such as Swiggy, Eternal’s Blinkit, and Zepto, as well as ride-hailing firms including Uber, Ola, and Rapido, rely on gig workers to run their businesses in the South Asian nation — the world’s second-largest internet and smartphone market after China. Yet despite powering some of India’s most valuable tech businesses, most gig workers operate outside traditional labor protections and lack access to basic social security.

    The newly implemented labor laws are intended to change that, by defining gig and platform workers in statute and requiring aggregators, such as food-delivery and ride-hailing platforms, to contribute 1–2% of their annual revenue (capped at 5% of payments made to such workers) to a government-managed social security fund. But the details remain murky: what exact benefits will actually be offered, how workers will access them, and how contributions will be tracked across multiple platforms, and when payouts will begin all remain unclear, raising concerns that meaningful protections may take years to materialize.

    A Zomato delivery boy moves through New DelhiImage Credits:Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto / Getty Images

    The Code on Social Security creates a legal framework for gig workers to be covered under schemes such as the Employees’ State Insurance, provident fund, and government-backed insurance. However, the extent of these benefits — including eligibility, contribution levels, and delivery mechanisms — remains unclear and will depend on future rules and scheme notifications.

    A key part of the framework is the creation of Social Security Boards at both the central and state levels, tasked with designing and overseeing welfare schemes for gig and platform workers. The central board must include five representatives of gig and platform workers and five representatives of aggregators, all nominated by the government, alongside senior officials, experts, and state representatives, per the Code. But there is little clarity on how decisions will be made, how much influence worker representatives will actually have, or who will ultimately control decisions on funding and benefit delivery.

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    “We need to wait and see what exactly is in the government’s mind when it comes to implementing the four Codes, and what it hopes to do for gig workers,” said Balaji Parthasarathy, a professor at IIIT Bangalore and principal investigator of the Fairwork India project. “And then we also have to see what the states translate on the ground.”

    Parthasarathy noted that because labor policy in India is shared between the federal and state governments — listed in the “concurrent list” of the Indian Constitution — state governments are responsible for designing, notifying, and administering many of the schemes needed to make the Code on Social Security operational for gig workers.

    That raises the possibility of uneven access, as some states move quickly to establish social security boards and roll out mechanisms, while others delay or deprioritize the effort due to political or fiscal constraints. Recent examples — such as Rajasthan’s stalled legislation after it was passed in 2023, and Karnataka’s Gig Workers Act, which was implemented soon after clearing the state assembly — underscore how workers’ protections may ultimately depend on where they live rather than the law itself.

    Platform companies have publicly welcomed the reform, but are still largely evaluating what it will require of them. An Amazon India spokesperson told TechCrunch the company supports the Indian government’s intent behind the labor overhaul and is evaluating the changes it will need to introduce. A spokesperson for Zepto said the company welcomes the new labor codes as “a big step toward clearer, simpler rules that protect workers while supporting ease of doing business,” adding that the changes will help strengthen social security for its delivery partners without undermining the flexibility that quick-commerce operations rely on.

    Food delivery firm Eternal, formerly known as Zomato, said in a stock exchange filing that the Social Security Code is a step toward more uniform rules and that it does not expect the financial impact to threaten its long-term business.

    Nonetheless, Aprajita Rana, a partner at corporate law firm AZB & Partners, said the change “will naturally have a financial impact” on India’s e-commerce sector, as worker contributions are now being formalized. It will also create new compliance obligations, requiring companies to ensure all workers in their networks are registered with the government-managed fund, determine whether individuals are associated with multiple aggregators and how to avoid duplicative benefits, and set up internal grievance mechanisms.

    “While the law has the right intent, gig worker structures in India are quite novel, and practical challenges in compliance will emerge as the law takes force,” Rana told TechCrunch.

    One of the biggest hurdles for gig workers seeking benefits under the newly implemented law will be registering on the Indian government’s E-Shram portal, launched in 2021 as a national database of unorganized workers. The portal had registered more than 300,000 platform workers as of the end of August, even though the government estimates India’s gig workforce at around 10 million. Trade unions, including the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT), which has more than 70,000 members, are working to help gig workers enroll so they can access the benefits.

    Ambika Tandon, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and an affiliate of the national trade union Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said registering on the portal could mean lost wages for gig workers, since they would have to take time off to fill in required details.

    “These workers work for 16 hours a day,” she told TechCrunch. “They don’t have time to go and register themselves on the government portal.”

    CITU is also among the ten major Indian trade unions calling for the withdrawal of the new labor laws, ahead of nationwide protests planned for Wednesday.

    The benefits of registering on the E-Shram portal are not compelling for many gig workers, Tandon noted, because the law does not address more immediate concerns such as fluctuating earnings, account suspensions, and sudden termination of accounts — issues that workers say matter far more right now than access to insurance or provident fund benefits.

    Trade unions often organize strikes to push platforms to address these concerns directly. However, such actions can disrupt everyone involved, including consumers, and put workers at further risk, as they are not paid while striking and may even face termination for participating.

    Swiggy strike
    Swiggy workers protested in Kolkata in 2023Image Credits:NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty Images

    “While the social security rules have now been put in place, we demand a minimum wage and an employer–employee relationship for gig and platform workers, which are yet to be set by the government,” said Shaik Salauddin, founder president of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), which has more than 10,000 members in the southern state of Telangana, and national general secretary of IFAT. “We urge the government to obtain data from aggregators and secure their monetary contributions to the fund to start offering benefits to workers.”

    There is a broader debate over whether gig workers should be treated as employees — a question the new labor laws do not address. The Social Security Code defines gig and platform workers as a separate category, rather than extending them the rights and protections that come with employee status. In contrast, courts and regulators in markets such as the U.K., Spain, and New Zealand have moved toward recognizing platform workers as employees or “workers,” entitled to minimum wages, paid leave, and other benefits. In some U.S. jurisdictions, regulators and courts have pushed for platform workers to be treated as employees or similarly protected workers, though many ride-hail and delivery drivers remain classified as independent contractors.

    “With this law, the Indian government has settled this debate by saying that these gig workers do not sit within the ambit of employment or other protections,” Tandon said.

    The Indian labor ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

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    Jagmeet Singh

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  • Lyft Launches New Gender Matching Feature for Safety | Entrepreneur

    Lyft Launches New Gender Matching Feature for Safety | Entrepreneur

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    When it comes to using a ride-sharing app, everyone has their preferences — silence, music, whether or not you want the windows down. However, Lyft is taking it one step further, and giving riders a preference on the gender of their driver.

    On Tuesday, the ride-sharing app announced the launch of Women+ Connect, which allows women to prioritize matching with women or nonbinary drivers for their trips. The feature can be activated within the settings tab on the app, and is available in San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, and San Jose, with plans to expand to other locations soon. Although the new feature will prioritize being matched with a female or nonbinary rider/driver, a user may still be matched with a male if no users of the desired gender are available in the area.

    The program is only available to Lyft users who identify as female or nonbinary.

    The company says the new feature was designed to enhance safety and promote female participation in its ride-hailing service.

    “Women drivers tell us it’s hard to drive at night,” Jody Kelman, Lyft’s executive vice president of customers, told The New York Times. “We need to remove a barrier for women drivers today.”

    Lyft’s female-forward feature comes amid growing awareness of safety concerns related to ride-sharing apps.

    Related: DoorDash Employee Says Customer Pulled Knife on Her During Creepy Delivery: ‘I Just Want Some Human Contact’

    Gig Workers Rising, an activist group fighting for the safety and protection of gig workers, found that 80 app-based workers were killed on the job between 2017 and 2022, and 31 were murdered in 2022 alone.

    In 2021, an NBC investigation spoke to 15 gig workers, and all admitted they have “feared for their safety” while on the job.

    In the wake of the violence, several gig-based apps have taken measures to buffer safety features for riders and drivers. Since 2021, Uber has rolled out a series of enhanced safety features including stricter verification procedures, freezing accounts of users exhibiting suspicious behavior, the ability to record the ride through the front-facing camera, and the option to capture audio during the journey. In June, Doordash added a new safety feature that allows drivers to share their trips with up to five contacts.

    Related: Uber, Lyft to Share Information About Drivers Banned for Assault

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    Madeline Garfinkle

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  • Why Companies Are Hiring and Prioritizing Employees Without College Degrees | Entrepreneur

    Why Companies Are Hiring and Prioritizing Employees Without College Degrees | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    A recent survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) revealed that almost one-third of American employers now consider non-degree candidates for job openings, with 37% of employers reporting that they are more likely to do so than five years ago.

    For the last several years, we have seen that developed soft skills are becoming the leading requirement in different companies, especially in terms of working with other people, e.g., being a proper team player, a good leader, being able to communicate properly and align with company values and diversity issues.

    Soft skills are often difficult to quantify, which is why many employers have traditionally focused on things like degrees and certifications to screen candidates. However, in many cases, a candidate’s ability to work well with others, think critically and adapt to new situations is more important than their specific educational background.

    In fact, some of the most successful people in business and industry are self-taught, having learned their skills through hands-on experience and a willingness to take on new challenges. Mark Zuckerberg, one of the most recognized names in tech, built Facebook into the world’s largest social network. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard in 2004, during his sophomore year, to work on Facebook full-time and remains its CEO to this day. David Karp created Tumblr (which at its peak gained more than 500 million monthly users) despite never even graduating high school. Daniel Ek, co-founder of Spotify after abandoning his degree in engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden after just eight weeks. The list goes on and on. The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, dropped out of Harvard to focus on building his company.

    Related: How to Find, Hire (and Fire!) Rockstar Employees

    High levels of soft skills are now defining a good employee. Even if a person has a great degree or might have vertical expertise in the field but lacks soft skills, some companies might prefer a better team player over a fancy university diploma. That brings harmony and drives team success rather than individual success.

    When hiring people, I personally don’t even look at the degree. When I conduct an interview, I ask a lot about different situations this person has been in at work, different conflict situations, communication processes with peers or their direct reports, and the rest of the team. I try to figure out how the communication will be done upwards at the same level or downwards. For me, a formal degree is not as important as people’s experience, and positive references are given to their soft skills, work ethics, and communication.

    Related: 5 Soft Skills Every Employee Needs Today

    The shift in hiring practices

    A number of factors is driving this shift:

    • The rising cost of college.
    • An increased emphasis on workplace skills over degree credentials.
    • the growing popularity of alternative educational models such as online certificates.

    In addition, some employers are starting to recognize that non-degree candidates can bring unique perspectives and experiences to the table that traditional college graduates may not possess. Google, Apple, IBM, Bank of America and other big companies adopted this approach in 2018.

    As employers move away from relying solely on academic qualifications, they now have more opportunities to identify and hire high-quality individuals who can contribute meaningfully to their organization. However, this trend also means that employers must be prepared to evaluate applicants based on a broader range of criteria than they may have in the past. In addition to traditional measures such as prior experience, academic achievements, and references, employers should consider evaluating candidates based on their skill set and personal qualities such as self-discipline and problem-solving abilities.

    At the same time, employers must ensure that they are not discriminating against potential employees who do not possess a traditional academic background. This includes assessing candidates based on their potential rather than focusing solely on past accomplishments or experiences. By taking a more holistic approach to evaluating applicants and considering the full range of skills and qualities they possess, employers can ensure that they are attracting a diverse set of candidates who have the potential to add value to their organization.

    A recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) revealed that 57% of employers plan to hire more such candidates in the future. This is indicative of a growing trend in organizations around the world.

    Related: 8 Soft Skills That Make You an Even Better Leader

    Soft skills take over

    Employers often find that hiring recent university graduates may not always be the most suitable option for the specific job requirements within their business. Especially when it comes to startups or venture-backed companies that require innovative and creative approaches, formal education can be an obstacle in thinking or creating a new product/business model. We see that some innovative companies intend to hire people without a formal education or college degree because that allows them to be more creative and think “outside of the box,” which results in more added value.

    By the way, fields such as IT, Manufacturing, Customer Service, Business Administration, Accounting and Finance are examples of areas that don’t necessarily require a degree but may prefer candidates with relevant experience or qualifications.

    High levels of soft skills are now defining a good employee. Even if a person has a great degree or might have vertical expertise in the field but lacks soft skills, some companies might prefer a better team player over a fancy university diploma. That brings harmony and drives team success rather than individual success.

    By recognizing the importance of soft skills and focusing on the qualities that truly matter, employers can build more diverse and effective teams that are better equipped to tackle the challenges of today’s rapidly-changing business landscape.

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    Zamir Shukho

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  • How the workforce of the future will be more like an ‘ecosystem’

    How the workforce of the future will be more like an ‘ecosystem’

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    CFOs have become central in steering business strategy and value creation. But that task is about to get a lot more comprehensive in scale.

    The workforce is changing into an ecosystem, consisting of full- and part-time employees, but also includes robots, chatbots, contractors, gig workers, professional service firms, app developers, and even customers. These internal and external elements all contribute to an organization’s value creation and strategic goals, according to the new book, Workforce Ecosystems: Reaching Strategic Goals with People, Partners, and Technologies.

    Two of the authors explained their research on Thursday during MIT Sloan Management Review’s (SMR) virtual summit on the future of work. “When Amazon decided it wanted to have its own transportation system, it didn’t hire people,” said Elizabeth J. Altman, coauthor and an associate professor of management in the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. “It started subcontracting, often with mom and pops. These people add value to Amazon, but don’t work for Amazon.”

    She continued, “If you think about YouTube or TikTok, those content creators are contributing to the business in a very meaningful way, and enabling the business to go forward. For many platform businesses that rely on contributions from users, those users absolutely, in my mind, are part of the workforce ecosystem.” However, “the relationship between the company and their customers or contributors is a little more complex than it was when a company was just selling a product to customers,” Altman said.

    The years of research culminating in a book included global surveys of more than 10,000 business leaders across industries, and more than 100 executive interviews, with 26% of the businesses surveyed earning more than $1 billion in revenue. 

    When external contributors are considered to be part of an organization’s workforce, that’s “a non-trivial shift,” said David Kiron, a coauthor and editorial director of MIT SMR. “It’s so nontrivial that three-quarters of managers agree that effectively managing these external folks is critical to their organization’s success,” Kiron said. “It’s especially true for organizations like Cisco and Novartis, and some of these other organizations that have tens of thousands of external contributors getting the work done.” 

    However, based on their research, just 30% of business leaders agreed that their organization is sufficiently prepared to manage a workforce that relies on all of these external contributors. “Those leaders who are taking this issue seriously consider it to be a holy grail, or a potential strategic differentiator for them to figure this problem out,” Kiron said. 

    Regarding a workforce ecosystem framework, four vital themes emerged in their research: management practices, technology enablers, integration architectures, and leadership approaches. Senior leaders and business unit leaders have to manage these themes. And the departments—HR, procurement, finance, legal, and IT—closely collaborate in a cross-functional approach for the workforce, internally and externally. There can’t be departmental silos in this approach. 

    However, a workforce ecosystem comes with challenges like issues of ethics, compliance, and regulatory matters. “The third part of the book is about ethics and social responsibilities and corporate social responsibility,” Altman explained. “We’re very aware that this structure leads to all kinds of questions. Like, who owns the intellectual property, for example. That is an ongoing discussion. There are different mechanisms for working with it. It’s not that it hasn’t been addressed at all, but I think these discussions continue to evolve as workforce ecosystems become more prevalent.”

    In a workforce ecosystem, I asked the authors if company strategy and value creation ultimately fall under the purview of the CEO and CFO. “We have realized that these discussions move to the C-suite,” Altman said. “They are strategic conversations because they get to the heart of how organizations compete [in their] industry, how they develop new products and services and move into new markets. So yes, ultimately, we think this is a very cross-functional C-level discussion. But we also see it going down deep into an organization.”

    A workforce redefined, for sure.

    Enjoy your weekend. See you on Monday.

    Sheryl Estrada
    sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

    Big deal

    The “Nasdaq 2023 ESG & Climate Survey” is based on feedback from executives in North America and Europe. Companies of varying maturity levels report they are leaning in on sustainability initiatives despite an unclear path forward and with regulation looming on the horizon. Forty-five percent of companies have been tackling ESG strategy for fewer than three years, and 9% of companies have been tackling ESG for more than five years. As companies advance in their journey, teams grow and become more integrated into day-to-day operations and decision-making.

    When asked how the most senior team member responsible for ESG and sustainability was appointed, 47% of executives said the person voluntarily took on responsibilities on top of their own role. Meanwhile, 39% said the team member migrated internally from other teams, and 14% said the person was hired for the role.

    Courtesy of Nasdaq

    Going deeper

    Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:

    “A famous hedge fund chief who managed to net record returns as stocks fell in 2022 says investors should look abroad to profit” by Will Daniel

    “Frank founder sued by JPMorgan for making up customers is in talks with DOJ over fraud charges” by Luisa Beltran

    “Airbnb’s CEO spent 6 months living in his company’s rentals—and found the core problem with his business” by Trey Williams

    “7 ways to bounce back after a bad night’s sleep” by Alexa Mikhail

    Leaderboard

    Here’s a list of some notable moves this week:

    Markus Neubrand was named CFO at Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES), effective Aug. 1. Neubrand will succeed interim CFO Dennis Secor. Neubrand currently serves as group CFO of luxury fashion brand MCM Worldwide. Before that, he spent 17 years at Hugo Boss, in roles including managing director of Scandinavia, and group director of financial planning, then COO and CFO. 

    Teresa Chia was named CFO at Vertafore, an insurance technology company. Before joining Vertafore, Chia was a senior partner and managing director at White Mountains Insurance Group, a publicly traded holding company. She was responsible for White Mountains’ direct investing and corporate mergers and acquisitions activity. Before that, Chia was a private equity investor at Permira Advisors, where she focused on investments in the global technology and consumer verticals.

    Tim MacCarrick was named CFO at project44, a supply chain visibility platform. MacCarrick has over 25 years of senior executive experience in finance and operations roles. He’s held both COO and CFO roles at public and private companies including Qlik, Xerox, DLL, and most recently OutSystems. 

    Patricia Kaelin was named CFO at Safe & Green Holdings Corp.(Nasdaq: SGBX), a developer, designer, and fabricator of modular structures, effective May 2. Kaelin served as CFO of Buddies Brand, a privately held consumer packaged goods (CPG) company. Before that, she served as CFO of 1933 Industries, Inc., a publicly traded CPG company. Kaelin also served as CFO of business operations at Clifton Larson Allen, a CPA and consulting firm. 

    Jay Matushak was named CFO at Bright Health Group, Inc. (NYSE: BHG), the technology-enabled health care company, effective May 12. Matushak will succeed Cathy Smith, who is stepping down to pursue another opportunity. Matushak joined Bright Health in 2021. He currently serves as SVP of finance. Matushak also serves as CFO of Bright HealthCare, the company’s insurance business. 

    Michael Dougherty was named CFO at bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIAF; BIAFW), a biotechnology company. Most recently, Dougherty served as CFO of Alexa Business Domains, Amazon’s Alexa AI and Voice division. Before that, Dougherty was chief financial and operating officer of TINT and CFO at Filestack. He also previously served as CFO for Amazon Pay. 

    David Black was named CFO at Proterra Inc. (Nasdaq: PTRA), a commercial vehicle electrification technology company, effective May 16. Karina Padilla, the current CFO, will step down from her role, effective May 15. Black served as a special advisor to the CEO of BWX Technologies, a supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. government. Before that, he served as SVP and CFO of BWX Technologies. 

    Overheard

    “We continue to see our customers return to us for reasons of the product innovation…in areas like refreshers, iced shaken espresso, cold foam, those are difficult to make at home, they give customers a reason to come in.”

    —Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri told Yahoo Finance.  

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    Sheryl Estrada

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  • What is Staff Augmentation? 3 Reasons It is Vital For Your Business

    What is Staff Augmentation? 3 Reasons It is Vital For Your Business

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Recruiting and retaining exceptional talent is challenging and takes a lot of time, especially when companies in the tech space demand experienced developers and engineers.

    Moreover, filling in the gaps due to a lack of resources or specialists can be challenging and time-consuming at the same time, especially for high-tech roles like iOS developers or machine learning engineers, for which the demands have been escalating since the great resignation.

    This is where the model of staff augmentation comes into play! In this article, we will discuss the concept of staff augmentation, its increasing demand and why enterprises need to focus on in-house team expansion for quick hiring.

    Related: 10 Strategies for Hiring and Retaining New Employees

    Staff augmentation

    Staff augmentation is a type of cooperation model where businesses, from startups to corporate enterprises, source talent via staffing agencies to work with them temporarily to fill the talent gaps promptly.

    Today, staff augmentation has turned mainstream, with nearly $500 billion annual spending on global IT staffing services alone.

    Businesses now prefer partnering with staff augmentation service providers to boost the competency of their internal teams and accelerate the development process rather than spending weeks prospecting ideal candidates, conducting interviews and shortlisting candidates to fill an immediate talent gap.

    Related: 6 Ways to Effectively Navigate Market Turbulence in the IT World

    Why is staff augmentation surging in popularity?

    The staff augmentation model has been successful over recent years due to the following three reasons:

    1. It is suited for a hybrid work environment

    People willing to switch to low-paying remote jobs rather than continuing on-prem work in their previous settings indicate that the future of work is remote. Remote work is the new normal, especially in the technology and digital transformation sectors.

    Staff augmentation services are suited to cater to the needs of a remote-first global economy that still needs to prepare to let go of all the advantages of on-prem work. With this setting, businesses can extend support to their internal teams by partnering with staff augmentation service providers to cater to bridge talent gaps and meet deadlines faster.

    2. It is low risk compared to other outsourcing models

    The staff augmentation model triumphs over all the outsourcing models regarding flexibility, affordability and quality. Compared to other outsourcing models, the risks involved with staff augmentation services are zero to none due to constant collaboration with the internal teams.

    The augmented team or resource operates either as mere extensions of the internal teams or under the supervision of the in-house managers. Uninterrupted collaboration and seamless integrations of both teams eliminate any possibility of errors.

    Thus, the risk involved in this model is considerably lower than the other project outsourcing models like offshoring or managed services.

    3. Staff augmentation is flexible to scale without compromising sustainability

    As the global recession started knocking on the doors, the results of aggressive hiring and fierce spending started becoming more evident. Consequently, most businesses either stopped or at least cut-down spending on scaling by considerable margins.

    This phenomenon has kept thousands of global entrepreneurs from putting all the stakes in and investing aggressively in scaling their businesses. However, things have started to take quite an exciting turn as IT staffing, and resource augmentation services became mainstream.

    With IT staff augmentation, businesses no longer remain prone to compromising sustainability, as they can end contracts with external teams if things start going south.

    This model enables entrepreneurs to fuel their desires to achieve exponential growth and scalability without worrying about laying off permanent employees or (in the worst case scenario) signing up for bankruptcy.

    Related: 6 Ways to Effectively Navigate Market Turbulence in the IT World

    Why you need to start implementing the staff augmentation model

    The following facts and figures are clear evidence that the staff augmentation model is here to stay:

    1. The great resignation and the wake-up call

    The quiet quitting culture has been disturbing the workflow of organizations since the epidemic. Even amidst the global recession session, where companies like Meta and Amazon are forced to lay off a considerable part of their workforce, the culture of quiet quitting has not stopped.

    People silently leave their well-paying jobs due to a lack of serenity, toxic work environments, pay disparity or other reasons. As an entrepreneur, you should be prepared to deal with such cases within your organization.

    Although you must prioritize fostering a culture of collaboration and encouragement, you should also be prepared to fill in talent gaps in case a team member resigns on short notice rather than compromising on the resource quality to fill the gaps.

    2. Going above and beyond to fill talent gaps

    The onshore, offshore and nearshore markets could provide more diversity in IT skills and expertise your company needs, depending on your location. With staff augmentation services, you can access a broader universal talent pool, including from regions acknowledged for having the finest IT talents, such as Europe and Asia.

    Building external teams to bridge the talent gap using staff augmentation services can also help you save the time and cost of setting up dedicated workspaces and recruiting highly-skilled teams.

    3. Increasing cyber attacks

    As businesses switch to fully remote and hybrid working models, they become prone to cyber-attacks and data breaches. According to Statista, the data breaches in the third quarter of 2022 were at the all-time highest, with businesses reporting approximately 15 million data breaches.

    Although businesses are now setting up dedicated networking teams to safeguard confidential information from hackers and intruders, not all of them can afford it. Thus, they eventually recruit network engineers via an augmented staffing model to stay protected from potential cyber threats and data breaches.

    Related: 4 Best Practices When Choosing a Staffing Agency

    Final thoughts

    Using staff augmentation to address the talent gaps instead of outsourcing or managed services models let business owners keep the charge of the project. As a business owner, you get to choose the talent you deem fit for the role and maintain authority over the project to get things done your way.

    With staffing services, you not only eliminate the recruitment time and cost but also access a global talent of highly-skilled developers and engineers to work alongside your in-house teams to optimize overall competencies and boost productivity.

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    Asim Rais Siddiqui

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