Festival Season To Rain 1.3 Lakh Temporary Jobs, E-Commerce To Rule

With e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart ready to lock horns this festival season, around 1.3 lakh temporary jobs are expected to be doled out in next three months.

While fast moving consumer goods segment leads the pack in terms of placing demand at staffing firms for sales promoters and feet on street representatives, the industry expects e-tailing to contribute massively in churning job opportunities, this year too.

“Around 50,000 jobs are expected to be created in e-commerce category. This year we expect close to 1.30 lakh seasonal jobs to be created over the festive period across industries,” said Yeshab Giri, head- specialties and Randstad Technologies, at staffing firm Randstad India.

Companies will demand more temporary workers in last mile delivery, warehouse logistics and customer service roles. The other top sectors where the demand is high include retail, infrastructure, construction and energy, logistics, hospitality, transport and communications.

The demand for such staff has increased by 12-13% as compared to last year’s festival season, as per the estimates of Indian Staffing Federation, an apex body for flexi staffing.

The growing usage of automation is pushing companies to demand niche skills among temporary staffers as well. “In banking sector where with increase in automation, the skill demand is towards customer engagement. The demand for latest and innovative technologies and specific skills like data science, mobile development, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital marketing and machine learning are also coming up in requirements,” said Suchita Dutta, executive director at Indian Staffing Federation.

Apart from high-end skills, recruitment industry is also focusing on blue and grey collar workers such as delivery boys, tele-callers, van boys and drivers among several other roles. "Considering the lucrative incentives offered, job seekers are waiting for festive season hiring to earn extra", said Dinesh Goel, CEO of Aasaanjobs.

For Instance: Salebhai, an Indian sweets and snacks delivery e-commerce startup, is planning to increase their workforce by 30-40% specifically for back-end, IT technicians to meet the festive rush.

With temporary staffing, companies find it easier to manage the seasonal and temporary increase in demand more efficiently. Also, with access to a ready talent pool and the ability to train people in the required skills to meet demand-supply gaps, the flexi staffing industry is well placed to respond to just in time needs, address the structural changes and meet seasonal fluctuations in labour demand.

These workers are paid anywhere between Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000. “The salaries are moving as per performance and differs across industries. The average hikes in IT industry will be much higher whereas manufacturing will be lower comparatively,” Dutta said.