Festivals are around the corner, and there's a scramble for temp staff
Consumer, e-commerce, and logistics firms are putting together a platoon of temporary and last-mile delivery workforce, hoping to meet the surge in demand in the upcoming season of festivals. A short summer that led to an inventory pile-up in the season-special white goods, an early onset of the festival season, wider access to online shopping, and the assumption that consumers will have a little more cash in hand due to tax savings are all leading to a 20% year-on-year rise in temporary workforce hiring.
'As we approach the festive season—typically commencing early September—we proactively scale up hiring across our supply chain network to meet the anticipated surge in demand," said Aakriti Chandra, vice-president (human resources) at e-commerce firm Flipkart. The senior executive said the firm will hire for 'seasonal roles" in their fulfillment centres, sortation hubs, and delivery facilities, which will especially impact employment in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
Like last year, Flipkart will lock horns with rival Amazon this season too. Both had targeted hiring more than 100,000 workers during the festive season that typically marks their largest sale period.
In India, the festive season starts with Ganesh Chaturthi that was celebrated in September last year, but starts in the last week of August this time. The period, which includes the peak festive sale time Diwali, dials down towards the end of December.
Sujay Pidara, founder of MyJobee, a blue-collar recruitment platform, said that firms' interest in roles such as warehouse staff and delivery partners is up 80%, compared with the April-June quarter this year.
'Quick commerce platforms are able to provide better pay and flexibility to workers, as they try to capture the market. But as cash burn increases, they may look at reducing labour costs or increasing customer pricing," Pidara said.
In recruitment parlance, temporary workers will be hired by a third-party vendor and deployed on client sites for three to six months. Gig workers, on the other hand, could be employed by multiple companies, and are typically in the delivery space.
'After a slower growth phase in 2024, India's e-commerce sector is set for a stronger festive season in 2025, with order volumes expected to grow in the high teens year-on-year," said Irwin Anand, chief executive officer (CEO) at Nimbuspost, a warehouse and last-mile delivery service provider. 'This surge is driven by renewed consumer demand, rising traction in high-value categories, and increased participation from Tier-2 and -3 cities."
Anand sees its courier partners also scaling up operations and hiring seasonal workforce to ensure seamless deliveries during the festival season rush.
Early celebrations pan-India
According to recruiters, an additional runway of a few weeks for festivals this year will also increase sales and, therefore, hiring. 'We estimate a 20% increase in hiring versus last year. There are over two lakh open requirements in the market," said Sunil C., country manager for staffing firm Adecco India.
Over the years, one of the major boosts to hiring during the festival season has come from e-commerce firms. They have progressively bulked up hiring of temporary workforce, as online shopping becomes more prevalent in India. Nearly all pin codes in India are now serviceable by at least one major e-commerce retailer, with Tier-2 and Tier-3 regions driving volumes, according to a 2023 study by ISB Institute of Data Science and Ecom Express.
Weather dampener
Weather also has a role to play in the plan for online retail push this season. The summer was brief this year, with spells of unseasonal rains hurting the demand for summer demand goods such as air-conditioners and refrigerators and leading to an inventory pile-up.
Industry executives say India's overall air-conditioner sales in April-May fell 10–15% year-on-year, reversing the early-season optimism that was driven by forecasts of a harsh summer.
Companies are now pinning their hopes on the festive season in the second half of the year to liquidate their excess inventory. Retail chains that sell large cooling appliances expect to liquidate air-conditioner stocks over the coming 2-3 months, or by October.
Fatter wallets
Balasubramanian A, senior vice president (SVP) and business head at TeamLease Services estimates a 15% uptick in hiring this season from a year ago. 'Discretionary sales will go up and that will add to sales. We also expect customers to spend more after the tax rebates that were announced during the Budget," noted the SVP.
Earlier in the year, the government announced relief on personal income tax for those with an annual income of up to ₹12 lakh. The move is set to put additional money in the hands of consumers, potentially boosting consumption. The festival season is widely considered auspicious for big ticket purchases in India.
Although temporary and gig hiring may see an uptick, permanent recruitment will remain muted.
'We are preparing for a 15-20% rise in the mandate in the temporary workforce versus last year," said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director of CIEL HR Service, adding that the hiring of permanent staff would be flat from the year ago level.
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