{"id":156322,"date":"2026-05-21T15:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T22:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=156322"},"modified":"2026-05-21T15:00:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T22:00:51","slug":"importance-and-potential-to-think-out-of-the-box-to-develop-gig-economy-in-sri-lanka-to-solve-unemployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/21\/importance-and-potential-to-think-out-of-the-box-to-develop-gig-economy-in-sri-lanka-to-solve-unemployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance and \u00a0potential to think out of the box to develop GIG economy in Sri Lanka to solve unemployment\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Dr Sarath Obeysekera<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p><strong><em><u>Gig workers\u201d are people who work on short-term, flexible jobs instead of permanent full-time employment.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><u>The term comes from the gig economy,\u201d where workers are paid per task, delivery, ride, project, or assignment.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><u>Common examples include:<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em><u>Taxi and delivery app drivers such as Uber, PickMe, or food delivery riders<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Freelance graphic designers, programmers, writers, or translators<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Temporary construction or hotel workers hired per project<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Online workers on platforms like\u00a0 Fiverr or\u00a0 Upwork<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><u>Characteristics of gig work:<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em><u>Flexible working hours<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Usually no permanent employer<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Workers are often paid per job\/task<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Limited job security and benefits such as EPF, ETF, pensions, or medical insurance<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><u>In many countries, governments are debating:<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em><u>Whether gig workers should receive labour protections<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Minimum wages and insurance<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Taxation and regulation of foreign gig workers<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><u>In the Sri Lankan context, people may also use the term for:<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em><u>App-based drivers and delivery riders<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Casual tourism and restaurant staff<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Online freelance workers earning foreign income<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em><u>Contract labour brought from abroad for specific industries<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><u>The phrase gig workers\u201d is increasingly important because digital platforms are changing traditional employment systems worldwide.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>*India&#8217;s Gig Economy* is one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world. Our gig workers are 10 million ie. One Crore today and projected to rise to 2.35 Crore or 23.5 million by 2029\u201330. Gig workers are defined to be independent contractors working for Platform based service \/goods market operators. While they make our lives better their own lives are difficult and this Podcast is raising the issues faced by them and PPP based solutions for the same. If you too sympathise with their cause then do forward it to your friends and help their upliftment become a National priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;Your link to podcast is <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sFhBT68iD2c\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/sFhBT68iD2c<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State vocational training institutes should update and upgrade training and help youths to be GIG worker and feed the family and get away &nbsp;from<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tax &#8211; net and yet contribute to the falling economy&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In UK they have &nbsp;Checked a Trade <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Sri Lanka we have Honda Bas&nbsp;(&nbsp;\u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db3 \u0db6\u0dcf\u0dc3\u0dca ?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regards<br><br>Dr Sarath Obeysekera<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr Sarath Obeysekera Gig workers\u201d are people who work on short-term, flexible jobs instead of permanent full-time employment. The term comes from the gig economy,\u201d where workers are paid per task, delivery, ride, project, or assignment. Common examples include: Characteristics of gig work: In many countries, governments are debating: In the Sri Lankan context, people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sarath-obeysekera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156323,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156322\/revisions\/156323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}