doi: Applied Insights Journal of Development Policy Review (JDPR) Vol. 1, Issues 1 & 2, January-March/April-June 2020 ISSN: Applied Future of Work: The Emerging Gig Economy Balwant Singh Mehta 1 and Arjun Kumar 2 Background Rapid technological advancement around the world has ushered in the era of ‘the future of work’ also known as ‘industry 4.0’ leading to an increase in the number of gig economy workers. However, with the paralyzing spread of COVID-19, the nature of ‘future of work’ in future cannot be comprehended. The pandemic has pushed people indoors and necessitated remote working. Heavy dependence on internet connectivity and recognition of gig work has increased manifolds, so much so that it is begun to be counted as essential services. Web-based working models like Zoom and Google Meet are being considered as the backbone on which work from home during lockdowns are being sustained. This is in tune to the gig economy where significant and permanent changes in the way work is done or supervised. Gig economy is a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. It offers two types of task based work (i) ‘crowded work’ such as digital marketing, online tuitions, content writers, translators, graphic designers, software development, accounting, data analytics, legal work, medical transcription, tele-medicine and social work involving freelancers, which can be done from anywhere; and (ii) ‘on-demand work’ such as personal transport services offered by Uber and Ola, food delivery services provided by Zomato and Swiggy, and e-commerce services of Amazon and 1 Research Director, Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), New Delhi; Fellow, Institute for Human Development (IHD), New Delhi E-mail: research.impri@gmail.com 2 Director, IMPRI, New Delhi; China-India Visiting Scholars (CIVS) Fellow, Ashoka University.