As the Covid-19 pandemic squeezed budgets, companies in India have increasingly started hiring temporary staffers. Businesses slowed down, leading to a massive jump in hiring in the gig workspace. Experts suggest the trend is catching on and hiring will continue in the space, reports New Indian Express, citing a report by BetterPlace, a blue-collar lifecycle management firm. The report suggests the gig economy workforce in 2021 is likely to increase to 175% by 2020. The gig economy can serve up to 90 million jobs over the long term, says the report. It adds that 7 million blue-collar jobs are likely to be created in 2021 and the delivery segment is expected to be the key driver. Yeshab Giri, Director Staffing, Randstad India, say, 2020 saw gig hiring primarily in healthcare & pharma, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) and e-commerce, and companies started hiring around 15,000-30,000 employees across levels of experience. This year the demand is likely to shoot up to 35-40%. Meanwhile staffing firm TeamLease also expects to add 1 million jobs in the gig space. The firm said in the logistics sector, the demand for warehouse roles (delivery executives, movers, pickers, packers, loaders etc.) has increased by 20% to 25% as compared to last year July to December and is expected to increase further.