The success of work-from-home in 2020 in India following the country’s lockdown will boost the gig economy and hybrid workforce this year, according to a study from job site SCIKEY.

“In 2020, job losses across the experience level and the influx of fresh entrants (graduates) in the job market boosted the gig economy,” SCIKEY stated. “This will promote diversity, inclusion and business pressure for cost optimisation and will give the gig economy a major push, even though external hiring will be limited this year.”

“Tailoring one's own working hours will also lure more women in the industry and it might even see more women in the leadership roles in the future,” it added.

The study is an analysis of inputs from 100 plus C-suite and human capital leaders representing over 100 organisations through surveys, social media inputs, interviews and panel discussions.

Meanwhile, the study also showed that 20% of leaders said recruitment will be done through external vendors and HR consultants and agencies, while 80% said they will consider internal hiring to be their first choice of hiring.

The majority said the focus on learning and development of core skills and behavioural and leadership competencies will be a defining factor in future. The study added that the workforce of the future will be expected to be adaptable and possess business acumen skills.

Furthermore, most, or 67%, of the business leaders feel that diversity in the workforce is critical, both while hiring and when retaining talent.

Approximately 87% of leaders feel that critical thinking is one of the key elements they expect from their people, while 93% feel that business acumen is a must-have skill of the future.

According to the study, 87% of leaders feel the necessity of skill upgrading and there will be a race to reskill or upskill, and soft skills like agility, adaptability and resilience will pave the path for the future.

This sudden and massive shift to a completely different work model also led to organisations discovering the skill gaps that existed and are expected to increase further in the time to come, the study showed.