Holiday hiring boom: e-commerce and fast-paced retail set to lead the way

Bengaluru/Mumbai/New Delhi: The upcoming festive season is likely to trigger demand for temporary workers as flash sales companies such as Zepto and Blinkit, as well as online retailers Meesho and Amazon, anticipate a rise in demand for a variety of goods.

These companies are likely to hire 20% more workers during the August-December holiday period than last year, expecting more buyers for everything from mobile phones and washing machines to fashionable clothes, employment agencies said.

The consumer durables, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sectors are also expected to see employment growth, albeit at a slower pace, as modest wage hikes during recent valuations may discourage customers from making higher-priced purchases such as a car or high-end electronics that are typically financed through bank loans.

“We have received 38,000 orders from clients and expect that to increase to 42,000 by the Independence Day weekend. Employment in trade and e-commerce this year is expected to be 15-20% higher than last year, both in the temporary and gig sectors,” said Lohit Bhatia, president of workforce management at recruiting firm Quess Corp.

Rival Adecco says the increase in labour demand is “justified”.

“Based on our conversations with clients across e-commerce, logistics, consumer goods, we estimate that there will be a 20-30% increase in hiring during the festive season, and these changes are also having an impact on the BFSI sector, particularly credit card and bank insurance,” said Sunil Chemmankotil, Country Head, Adecco India.

Peak recruitment season

The festive period, which begins on Raksha Bandhan or August 15 (India’s Independence Day), whichever comes first, is the peak recruitment season and lasts until December. This period sees fierce battles between brick-and-mortar stores and online platforms as the latter compete for a bigger share of sales through discounts.

The advent of fast-paced retail has brought another set of players into the fray for fleet workers on the street – supply and logistics executives. The BFSI sector is also joining this seasonal war for workers to meet higher demand for credit cards. Purchases of cars on bank loans and consumer electronics items like TVs and laptops through credit cards are popular.

E-commerce company Meesho said it aims to create 250,000 seasonal jobs through partnerships with third-party logistics players such as Ecom Express, Delhivery, Shadowfax and Xpressbees, as well as Valmo. “Over 60% of these opportunities will come from tier 3 and tier 4 regions,” said Sourabh Pandey, general manager, order fulfillment and experience, Meesho.

Fulfillment and e-commerce experience refers to the picking, packing and shipping of goods to ensure that orders are delivered to customers efficiently and safely, without delay. This is important for customers to make repeat purchases on online platforms.

Temporary or concert

Employment during the holiday season is split between temporary and agency workers. The former are recruited by employment agencies, earning ₹1600-2200 per day, in addition to statutory benefits such as pension funds. They are on the payrolls of employment agencies. On the other hand, casual workers are employed, often only for a few days when demand is high, directly by the client. ₹500-900 per day without additional benefits.

While e-commerce companies are recruiting temporary workers en masse, the service, finance and insurance sectors, consumer durables companies and retail chains that handle large amounts of customer data rely on recruitment agencies to fill temporary positions.

“Early indicators say hiring will pick up, but it is sector-specific. For example, in the BFSI segment, where credit cards, loans, etc. are growing rapidly during this period, hiring is expected to be muted. We are estimating a 10% growth in the July-September quarter compared to the previous muted six months – January-July,” said Kartik Narayan, CEO-hiring at recruiting firm TeamLease Services.

Fast commerce, the desirability and profitability of which were questioned at one point, has gained popularity with many startups operating in this space. They handle orders for household items within minutes. Zepto, a unicorn, Zomato-owned Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart are key players in this segment. These platforms are also expected to see growth in non-essential items such as sweets, apparel, appliances, gift items and accessories in the coming months and will need more hands to deliver orders quickly.

Logistics firm Emiza, which offers warehousing and delivery services to consumer brands and e-commerce platforms, had 1,500 employees and added about 200 last festive season. It currently has 2,000 temporary workers and will hire another 250-300 this festive season. “While that may not be entirely sufficient, the idea is to manage and optimize demand by rotating workers to 12-hour shifts instead of 8-hour shifts and starting night shifts to fulfill orders faster,” says Ajay Raj, founder and chief operating officer (CEO) of Emiza.

Stationary stores are also optimistic

Logistics company Shadowfax works with 200,000 delivery partners and plans to increase that number by 25-30% over the holiday season, predicting demand will double during peak times over the next few months.

“We offer a range of incentive programmes to reward our passengers based on their performance and effort in delivering their parcels. On peak days, passengers can enjoy a 20-25% increase in their pay,” said co-founder Praharsh Chandra.

Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar retailers are also optimistic that consumer spending will increase and footfall will increase this holiday season, prompting them to offer incentives to keep employees motivated.

Electronics retailer Vijay Sales will offer incentives to employees, largely in line with previous years, as it expects consumers to continue spending money on air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines. Customers bought more refrigerators and air conditioners in the summer, without reducing demand for other electronics.

“So we will see consumers continue to buy home appliances and electronics,” said Nilesh Gupta, managing director of Vijay Sales. During the festive season, the Mumbai-based company typically offers its sales staff ₹10,000-15,000 and ₹$20,000-$25,000 in bonuses in addition to monthly salary, depending on category.

October full of excitement

Of course, the festive season will really start in earnest in the first week of October with Navratri followed by Diwali on November 1. So, retailers are anticipating an October filled with auspicious days and are expecting a surge in demand.

Retail hiring is tied to how retailers expand in a given year, and not so much to the holidays, as demand for devices is now spread throughout the year, Gupta added. Vijay Sales will add a total of 12-15 stores this fiscal, with plans to end the year with 150 outlets, Gupta said.

Meanwhile, some big e-commerce players are delaying revealing their recruitment plans.

“Usually, this is the time when brands and marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart start working with logistics players to plan inventory and labor requirements. However, this year, the conversations have been quite muted,” said Raj of Emiza.

An Amazon India spokesperson said the company creates seasonal job openings every year during the festive season across its fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery network across the country. “We will provide more information in the next few weeks,” the spokesperson said.

Flipkart and Myntra did not respond to emailed queries.