milved

I read through opinions of and @deepigoyal and @Sbikh on Gig workers. More interestingly, I read through @Nixxin view. It is very brave of him to express himself and take a stand on the matter. Zomato is a listed company. All its financials are out in the open. Despite paying ‘low salaries’, Quick commerce ‘Blinkit’ still lost 929 crores in 2025 and 156 crores in Q2 of 2026. It has a long journey ahead to become viable. They have to control costs while increasing margins. Else, the business model dies taking along with lacs of jobs. We are silent on the mature ITeS services companies like @Infosys, @Wipro , @TCS which earn billions in profits by employing IT coolies while freezing the pay at 30K a month (Source @Careers360) for about 20 years. And most of us have been partaking in this abuse. We should all know that most gig workers earn more than a fresher BTech earns even after spending 20 lacs and 4 years of their life. The ITeS companies multiplied their profits 10X, employee count 3X while salary bill stagnated. However, we rage and protest when a young loss making startup creates jobs and pays to market conditions. Because we see the gig workers every day. Transact every day. Engage every day. Face them yesterday. And we compare our privilege to their compulsions.That is possibly ‘guilt’ as Depinder says. We also forget how they responded during Covid. Restaurants expanded. Cloud kitchens were created. Millions of workers retained their jobs despite a lockdown as they saved the entire restaurant businesses from an imminent collapse. Companies like @Paytm by @vijayshekhar ensured that you don’t need to touch the currency physically while still transact buying your vegetables. Many studies have shown that when a demographically targeted group benefit raises the cost of an enterprise, employers respond by hiring less. When India expanded the maternity heave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, research showed a 4.6% drop in newly married woman gaining employment. A similar thing happened when minimum wages were raised. The contractual employees is a direct consequence of regulating salaries. I always had a problem when those who got through the gate raise the cost so high that it closes the gates on others. Any forced increase will lead to reduced opportunities for others. We aren’t creating enough jobs. Government is failing the youth. The question before India is more jobs or more money for those who already have jobs? I have this pet peeve against all Entrepreneurs who were beneficiaries of public education system at low or no cost but deride it only wanting to kill it. The current EdTech companies offering STEM education thrive on deriding public education and created a business model on the vulnerability of India to find a decent office job. We are all a part of the charade. We all pass the buck when confronted with uneasy questions. Why don’t we voluntarily add a decent tip because our heart beats for gig workers? How many of us are willing to pay a higher delivery charge if it has to be real quick? How many pay the minimum wages to their domestic workers? How many pay overtime to their drivers? Personally, I am against 10 minute delivery. No one dies if an order is delivered in 20 minutes. The quick commerce that monetises the urge and urgency of fickle and shallow people must stop. Charge a premium. Increase delivery charges. Offer zero discounts if it is immediate. Make people pay. But at the same time, we need to look inward. Our urgency. We need to strike a balance between the companies, the business model, the gig workers and what we as consumers are willing to pay. Stop confusing the market cap of Zomato with its profits! If the business isn’t profitable, everything evaporates. Let the business models succeed, mature and we can have a better debate about job creation vs worker exploitation. For now, ask Infosys, TCS, Wipro etc, as to why the fresher salary is stuck at 3.5 lacs for 20 years..