New Delhi, 28th November 2025:Amid rising global commentary on India’s gig economy, new insights from Empower India present a grounded and evidence-led picture. Latest analysis by the think tank shows that 70% of gig worker households now report higher disposable incomes, driven by predictable earning models and consistent work opportunities – directly countering narratives that overlook the strides made by large companies in improving worker welfare.
Far from driving precarity, India’s largest retail and e-commerce companies are accelerating the formalization of gig workers and have played a key role in shaping the labour codes that safeguard them.Platforms such as Amazon, Delhivery, Reliance Retail, and others are enabling this shift through transparent earnings, technology-enabled safety systems, integration with social security frameworks, and structured career mobility.
- Giri, Director General, Empower India, states, “India’s gig economy is advancing because large homegrown and global companies are choosing to invest in people, creating a future where flexibility and protection work together. Attempts by global unionsto disrupt this progress misunderstand India’s realities and, ironically, undermine the very worker welfare they claim to uphold. Our studies show that companies like Amazon, Delhivery, and Reliance Retail are building safer workplaces, transparent income structures, and real mobility. That is what responsible labour practice looks like – and it is happening at scale in India.”
Safety, Inclusion, Fair Pay, and Social Protection Are Rising
Empower India’s research highlights clear improvements across the ecosystem:
- Stronger integration with social protection systems such as e-SHRAM and employer-backed insurance
- Increased participation of women due to enhanced safety measures and flexible options
- Wider access to skills and mobility pathways, for eg., Delhivery’s consistent investment in training and structured earning opportunities
- Improved safety and well-being through initiatives like Amazon’s Project Ashray
These advancements challenge generalised claims portraying gig work in India as uniformly unsafe or exploitative.
The Path Forward: Strong Partnerships – Not Roadblocks
The effective rollout of India’s labour codes hinges on deeper collaboration between trade bodies, policymakers, and large corporations. India’s model – built on the on-ground innovations of major employers who blend flexibility with protection. These companies have already digitally empowered millions of MSMEs, created lakhs of part-time and seasonal jobs, and provided predictable income opportunities for a gig workforce that is projected to reach 23.5 million by 2030.
A cooperative approach can harmonise compliance, build scalable worker benefits, and strengthen real-time policy refinement. India’s experience shows that gig welfare strengthens when platforms, regulators, and workers co-create solutions, not when external actors impose frameworks misaligned with local needs.Conversations about gig work must be anchored in data, evidence, and India’s unique realities—not imported narratives.Global campaign efforts by trade unions create unnecessary disharmony in the lives of gig workers which is unhealthy and counterproductive.
