Jobs galore in e-commerce space;1.5 lakh jobs likely in 2-3 yrs

It's raining jobs in the e-commerce space as this segment could grow at 20-25 per cent over the next 2-3 years in terms of jobs, salaries and growth, which in turn could create at least 1,50,000 jobs.

The current estimated size of the industry is about Rs 18,000 crore and is expected to reach Rs 50,000 crore by 2016 and as the industry grows, the demand for talent would grow proportionally.

"We are extremely bullish on the ecommerce sector in India. There are nearly 200 start-ups flush with PE/VC funds within this area and several hundred that are treading the same lines. We believe over the next 2-3 yrs, this sector will create at least 1,50,000 jobs," Antal International Network India Managing Director Joseph Devasia said.

Commenting on this trend, Mani Sankar Das Gupta, Chief, Placement Unit, BITS Pilani said "the industry is very bullish, the main players- Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, Myntra etc. are regular recruiters from BITS and are now generating huge revenues, and have increased the number of hiring this year."

Since the sector is fairly new, there is a severe dearth of talent at all levels and in order to attract and retain key talent some of the leading ecommerce players today are even shelling out "crore+" salaries.

On this, BITS Pilani's Gupta said "In India, most ecommerce players increased the salaries by 10-40 per cent between 2013 to 2014 and are now paying salaries ranging from Rs 10-23 lacs and are hiring large entry level employees.

At mid & senior level also salaries are swelling by 10-15 per cent every year, besides the priceless stock options that are offered, that makes employees millionaires," Gupta added.

Jayesh Pandey, Managing Director, Talent & Organisation at Accenture India believes, "salaries in this sector are likely to see a higher degree of ESOPs and performance based rewards as compared to other industries".

Rajiv Srivatsa COO & Co-founder Urban Ladder said: " We are at par with most other e-commerce companies in terms of salary. Along with the salary component, employee stock options attract a lot of talent since the industry is on a massive growth path".

Indian Staffing Federation executive director Suchita Dutta said "E-commerce hiring is extremely bullish with the sector alone ready to hire over 15,000 in the next 5 months. The upscale is largely driven by robust positive sentiment both amongst consumers as well as the industry."

The indicative salary outlook for junior employees is Rs 1.45 lakh-Rs 3 lakh per annum, while for mid-management it is between Rs 12 lakh-Rs 30 lakh per annum, Dutta added.