Vishwas Jain, CXO at Zepto, and Manoranjan Dhal, Head, CERLS, IIM-K lit the ceremonial lamp in the presence of Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM-K, and Ernest Noronha, IIM-Ahmedabad, at the third annual India Labor Conference at IIM-K. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) hosted the third annual India Labor Conference with a special focus on “Gig Workers in a Growing India”.
The event brought together researchers, policy makers, union leaders, non-profit organizations and industry experts to discuss how to ensure that work remains fair and sustainable in an increasingly digital economy.
In his inaugural address on the “invisible” workforce, IIM-K director Debashis Chatterjee emphasized the need to make the “invisible” visible, referring to the millions of gig workers who power the modern economy but often remain on the margins of mainstream conversation. He noted that while gig workers represent about 4% of India’s workforce, 40% of them earn less than ₹15,000 a month. Mr. Chatterjee called for a shift from “algorithmic orientation” to a social contract rooted in altruism and human dignity.
Manoranjan Dhal, head of the Center for Employment Relations and Labor Studies (CERLS), highlighted a cruel paradox: while the gig economy offers flexibility, many workers experience “dehumanization” and feel trapped by anonymous apps that monitor every minute but cannot respond to a human plea. Despite these challenges, the economic impact is significant and projections suggest that non-agricultural gigs could contribute ₹2.35 lakh crore to India’s GDP by 2030.
Vishwas Jain, Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Zepto, shared his experience on the front lines of e-commerce and explained how the gig model provides the flexibility needed to handle unpredictable demand surges and geographic challenges in India. He noted that innovations such as partnering with local Kirana stores have become essential for last-mile deliveries.
Ernesto Noronha, professor of organizational behavior at IIM-Ahmedabad, focused on crowdwork, a global platform for digital assignments in English, describing it as “a new international publishing system.” He pointed out that India provides one-fourth of the platform’s workforce.
Published – 28 March 2026 20:46 IST
