78% of frontline workers in Delhi NCR employed in e-commerce sector: Survey

During pandemic, consumer sentiment improved for SMEs that went online, leading to a spike in frontline jobs, revealed study by BetterPlace, a tech platform for blue-collar workforce management

With Delhi NCR emerging as a start-up hub, new-age firms are driving employment for frontline workers in the city. About 78 per cent Delhi NCR's frontline workforce is employed in the e-commerce sector, a recent survey revealed.

The logistics and mobility sector took the second spot, employing almost 15 per cent of these workers.

During the pandemic, consumer sentiment improved for small and medium businesses that shifted to an online model. This led to a huge rise in jobs for frontline workers, revealed insights from BetterPlace, a technology platform for blue-collar workforce management.

E-commerce and logistics and mobility had grown simultaneously as both worked in cohesion to serve the increasing demand and consumerism, the survey added.

“Delhi NCR is one of the biggest hubs for frontline workers in the country. Being the capital and a dynamic metropolitan city, there has been a massive growth of new-age businesses and firms. Coupled with the usage of technology to drive retail operations of new-age businesses, it is heartening to see exponential increase in demand and supply of workers when compared to the last two years,” said Pravin Agarwala, co-founder and Group CEO at BetterPlace

“As consumerism skyrockets in Delhi NCR, many frontline workers are making their way to Delhi NCR where we have seen patterns of reverse migration and job-induced migration. Along with initiatives by the government to increase the participation of the youth in the workforce, more GenZ’s are taking up frontline and gig jobs,” he added.

The capital has one of the lowest supply to demand gaps for frontline workforce, recording an average supply to demand gap of 0.25 per cent in FY22. This means that there is always 0.25 per cent more workers than the demand of the industry in Delhi NCR, which is a healthy balance.

Delhi NCR’s workforce is largely driven by its youth, with frontline workers between the age of 20-30 making up 60 per cent of the total workforce, which is higher than all other age groups combined

The survey also recorded a 33 per cent decrease in the number of women that were a part of the frontline workforce down to only 2 per cent, compared to 98 per cent men.

The report is an analysis of nearly 200,000 frontline workers that are managed by BetterPlace in Delhi NCR.