Motivating GIG Workers: A Way to Achieve Sustainable Business

The term gig works has emerged out of the concept of sharing economy or gig economy. This has especially evolved during the COVID outbreak when people started working from remote locations. The gig economy involves a free market system where individuals can opt for temporary positions and work as independent workers for a specific period. Gig works are short term or temporary jobs which include the advantage of work flexibility and independence but it also comes with the disadvantage of very little job security. The job scenario has been changing and many full-time workers have become gig workers or have taken up gig works alongside their full-time jobs. With changes in the business environment and the nature of jobs in the gig economy, the motivators for these workers might have changed as well. Motivation is a very crucial factor for an organization as it affects the organizational performance as well. Motivated employees are generally more satisfied which in turn positively affects their performance and helps attain sustainability. Many organizations have started adopting more agile work models and have started embracing a remote, freelance, and virtual workforce due to which the characteristics and factors motivating these gig workers might have changed as well. Thus, the need to identify the characteristics of the gig workers becomes important. Considering this the study would also try to identify the factors motivating these gig workers to perform more efficiently and effectively in the gig economy. The findings of the study would in turn help the organizations identify the areas in which they should improve themselves to get a more motivated gig workforce and achieve higher level of employee satisfaction. Also, it would help the HR professionals retain these gig workers and attain sustainability in the businesses.