E-commerce firms shift hiring to engineering, AI as demand rises 35%

E-commerce and quick-commerce firms are prioritising engineering, AI and operations talent, shifting away from expansion-led hiring to build resilience, fulfilment precision and digital capability

India’s e-commerce and quick-commerce sector is shifting into a capability-led hiring phase, with companies recalibrating workforce strategy around engineering strength, execution speed and digital infrastructure.

 

Talent demand across the sector has risen 35 per cent, from 73,320 roles in 2023 to nearly 98,750 in 2025, according to CIEL HR. The increase underscores a broader transition away from expansion-driven hiring towards building depth in platform resilience, fulfilment precision and AI-enabled customer experience.

 

“India’s digital commerce sector is entering a new workforce phase where engineering depth, operational agility and execution precision are becoming the strongest indicators of business competitiveness,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director and chief executive officer, CIEL HR. “Organisations are designing talent models that combine specialised technology capability with highly responsive frontline execution, because sustainable growth now depends on how intelligently both layers work together.”

 

The strongest shift is visible in technology and engineering, where demand has expanded more than threefold over the last two years. Software development engineers, DevOps engineers, solution architects, and AI and ML engineers have emerged as the core talent priorities as digital commerce players invest in recommendation engines, chatbots, warehouse automation, payments architecture and platform stability.

 

Even as digital capability becomes central, operational hiring continues to remain significant to drive revenue growth. Supply chain and fulfilment demand has risen by 25 per cent over the same period. Warehouse managers, fulfilment planners, city operations leads, inventory controllers and supply chain executives now sit at the centre of growth, especially as quick commerce expands deeper into Tier II and Tier III cities. Here, execution reliability increasingly determines customer retention.

 

A clear compensation premium is emerging around advanced digital capability. AI and machine learning specialists are earning 30–40 per cent more than conventional technology roles, while GenAI and LLM (large language model) specialists command premiums of 15–20 per cent. Senior NLP (natural language processing) and computer vision professionals with approximately five years’ experience are now reaching compensation levels of up to ₹50 lakh annually, signalling that specialised digital talent is becoming one of the most strategically priced capability pools in Indian commerce.

 

CIEL HR notes that workforce transformation is equally visible at the frontline, where gig labour has become the largest execution layer of digital commerce. India’s gig workforce has crossed 12 million in 2025 and is projected to reach 23.5 million by 2030, with more than half engaged in e-commerce and quick-commerce delivery, dark-store fulfilment and hyperlocal logistics. This scale is now being supported by a far more mature HR technology backbone: app-based onboarding, instant KYC, digital background verification, microlearning modules and mobile-first workforce management platforms are reducing activation timelines to as little as 24 to 48 hours. As companies expand into new consumption markets, HR tech, continuous learning and workforce compliance are becoming as critical as hiring itself in sustaining growth.

 

Nearly half of incremental hiring demand is now concentrated in technology, product and operations roles. This indicates a structural shift from customer acquisition-led hiring towards platform capability and fulfilment-led workforce design.

 

Bengaluru and Hyderabad continue to anchor platform engineering and AI data operations. Chennai is emerging as a product and experience support hub with growing demand in product management, UX and analytics-linked roles.

 

Gig earnings have increased by about 28 per cent in two years, with average monthly income rising from ₹18,000 in 2023 to ₹23,000 in 2025, while high-utilisation workers in peak demand windows are now earning above ₹40,000 per month.