Digital Labour And The Changing Nature Of Work In India

Growth of Digital and Platform Work

• Modern work is increasingly organised through digital platforms, networks, and software
• The term “McJob” describes repetitive and unsatisfying forms of employment
• The ILO estimates that over 400 million workers globally are engaged in platform-based work
• A NITI Aayog report estimated 7.7 million platform workers in India in 2020-21, constituting 1.5% of the total workforce
• India’s gig workforce is projected to reach 23.5 million by 2029-30

Meaning of Digital Labour

• Digital labour includes a wide range of work activities carried out through digital technologies
• It covers freelance work, gig work, data annotation, content creation, and algorithm-managed tasks
• It includes work such as ride-hailing services and labelling data for artificial intelligence systems
• Such work can be performed remotely and across geographical boundaries
• It includes both paid and unpaid work

Organisation of Work in the Digital Age

• Work is increasingly organised through digital networks rather than conventional workplaces
• Individuals function as nodes within social and economic networks
• Traditional workplace socialisation is often replaced by continuous skill upgrading
• Employment is increasingly linked to the management and control of information
• Digital workplaces are sometimes redesigned in ways that reduce workers’ skills and autonomy

Power Relations and Labour Process

• Digitisation has altered the distribution of power within the labour process
• Workers are expected to continuously adapt to new systems and keep upgrading skills
• Digital labour systems often treat workers as substitutable parts within technological systems
• Workers may be reduced to narrowly defined tasks requiring minimal training
• This can create detachment from work even if workers appear satisfied on the surface

Concerns in Digital Labour

• Digital work raises concerns about the dehumanising effects of work organised through algorithms and networks
• Important issues arise regarding:
  • labour regulation
  • worker protections
  • governance of platform-based employment
  • algorithmic management
  • employment classification

Skill, Education and Alienation

Digital work, automation, and artificial intelligence often require higher education, training, and mental effort

At the same time, many workers report dissatisfaction with digital office work

Routine and repetitive digital tasks may create forms of labour that feel constrained and unfree

Workers may experience alienation and detachment in digitally organised work environments

Technology, Inequality and Governance

• Technological change in production is not socially neutral
• Science and technology operate within existing power relations
• Increasing deskilling, limited reskilling opportunities, and workers’ struggles reflect contradictions in digital labour systems
• Technological transformation can deepen existing inequalities if institutional protections are absent
• The government has an important role in governing digital networks through regulation, policy, and administrative systems

Policy Relevance

• Analysing digital labour is important for understanding the changing relationship between organisations, technology, and labour
• These transformations are significant for policymakers, businesses, and labour institutions responding to the evolving digital economy in India