Gig hiring to soar by 20% in festive season, e-commerce may lead: Indeed

Several industries are reporting marked increase in demand for seasonal workers, with e-commerce leading the trend with a 35 per cent rise in demand, followed by logistics, retail, and quick commerce

As festival season is about to begin, seasonal hiring is projected to surge by 20 per cent over last year, with the e-commerce industry leading the trend amid increased demand, according to the data by job site Indeed.

The top gig roles that have been witnessing increased hiring are delivery executives, warehouse workers, logistics coordinators, in-store sales executives, and customer care executives, the data showed.

Several industries are reporting a marked increase in demand for seasonal workers, with e-commerce leading the trend with a 35 per cent rise in demand, followed by logistics (15 per cent), retail (14 per cent), and quick commerce (11 per cent).

"The festive season is a crucial period for businesses across India, and we're seeing a significant uptick in hiring for seasonal roles as companies prepare to meet heightened consumer demand.

"The industries that are growing -- e-commerce, logistics, quick commerce -- are doing so because they're aligned with the needs and behaviours of today's consumers. This is where the future of India's job market could be heading," Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India, said.

The increased demand in e-commerce is driven by the rapid expansion of the industry and the requirement for additional warehouse workers and delivery executives to handle larger order quantities and guarantee on-time deliveries, Indeed said.

While metro cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, and Kolkata are witnessing an 18-20 per cent of year-on-year increase in seasonal hiring, it is the tier-2 and tier-3 cities that are emerging as the real engines of growth, it further said.

"Tier 2 and 3 cities such as Nagpur, Jaipur, Vadodara, Kochi, Vizag, Madurai, Lucknow, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Indore, Coimbatore, Surat, Bhubaneswar, and Bhopal are experiencing an even higher surge, with a 22-25 per cent increase in hiring," Indeed said.