Hiring for the holidays – the rise of gig work

As we enter the final quarter of the calendar year, many of us are looking forward to a well-deserved break and time spent with family and friends over the festive period. But one facet of the holidays that many people may not realise is that it also happens to be a boom time for gig work.

More people are out and about – requiring transport services through ride-hailing apps. More people are having guests over – but want to avoid the hassle of cooking or shopping so they order food and groceries using delivery apps. And people are ordering gifts online for friends and family – requiring picking, packing, and delivery around the world.

Taskmo reported that demand for Indian gig workers across the e-commerce sector increased by 11% month-on-month in June, with companies such as Epay, Amazon and Flipkart advertising the highest number of job opportunities.

The upcoming end of year holidays, combined with “sales” days such as Great Indian Festival Sales and Prime Day Sales, has driven the increase in e-commerce gig work. Gig workers are therefore in high demand and are able to take advantage of the plentiful opportunities for work and income before the end of the year.

What should companies consider when hiring gig workers?

Companies hiring gig workers need to be cognisant of the fact that gig workers typically have higher turnover rates than that of employees. The demographic of people working in gig employment are usually those that see it as a temporary stopgap while they seek more permanent employment. It is therefore imperative that gig workers are onboarded quickly and are able to get to work as soon as possible.

One aspect of the onboarding process that can be completed speedily and conveniently is background checks.

Background checks are important to conduct for gig workers as there is an element of trust and autonomy given to gig workers that enable them to cause significant detrimental effect for the hiring company if left unverified.

For instance, gig workers are often in enclosed spaces with customers or visit customers at home – requiring a certain level of trust on the part of the hiring company and the customer – and gig workers generally operate independently throughout the duration of their work, therefore receiving less oversight than typical employees.

Background checks that companies typically conduct for gig workers are: criminal history checks, driver licence checks, employment verification, and right to work checks. These checks act as an additional verification of the background and trustworthiness of the gig worker.

Sterling RISQ offers convenient digital solutions for gig workers to complete their background checks online and speed up the onboarding process. Our solutions remove the need for manual screening processes and ensure that workers are thoroughly checked and verified in the most efficient manner possible.

If you’d like to learn more about the services that Sterling RISQ offers to companies hiring gig workers, contact us here or drop us an email at info@sterlingrisq.com