Festive Hiring Sees a Spark in Demand for temporary staffing

After the ebbing of the second wave in the country, the industry appears to be bullish about the growth in festivity season demand led by a rebound in consumer confidence and sentiments. Research from Indian Staffing Federation states an increase of 20% in the temporary employment market, ahead of the festive season. For E-commerce sectors in particular and the economy in general, the rise in revenue volumes is attributed to reduced restrictions, increased vaccinations, availability of bumper festive offers and discounts and surge in online shopping by the demographic dividend. As such companies expanded their operations to penetrate deeper into the smaller towns, their supply chain and logistics considerably ramped up paving way for more seasonal & Festive hiring (~ 25-30% as per reports) across tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Ecommerce companies are gearing up to ramp up the hiring of temp and gig workers for last-mile delivery. Online retailers Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Ajio are planning a slew of mega sale events every fortnight, and category-specific sales every seven to 10 days ahead of the festive season. The festive sales are expected to register a 30% growth over the previous year, driven by purchases from tier 3 and 4 cities.

Festive Hiring in logistics, food delivery, manufacturing, e-commerce, and automobile companies is expected to increase by 30 to 35 percent during the upcoming festive season. Almost three lakh temporary and gig jobs are expected to be generated during the upcoming festival period, from Diwali to Christmas”, as per the prediction of an Industry Expert who informed the India Staffing Federation. Almost 3 lakhs temporary and gig jobs are expected to be generated during the festive season this year, according to Farhan Azmi, Vice President, Indian Staffing Federation. Teamlease’s latest Employment Outlook Report Q2 FY22 showed 43% hiring intent for blue-collar jobs which may be an amalgamation of factors like the easing of clampdowns and restrictions, festive demand, or a positive economic outlook. Driven by the increasing adoption of digital platforms, retailers, e-commerce companies, logistics, etc.; the hiring for temporary staffing is also expected to see a sizable growth as companies ramp up their last-mile connectivity in order to meet the seasonal demand.

If the trends of last year are to be considered, hiring for blue-collar jobs had seen a spike of 27% over August-October 2020 (Research from Betterplace, a tech platform that manages the lifecycles of informal and semi-formal workforces). The demand was generated primarily from the e-commerce and logistics sectors, retail, and healthcare; which coincided with the onset of festivals. The nation is going through a revival and the hiring trends are indicating a sustained recovery in business activity after the impact of Covid-19. In 2021, the Indian job market registered an 11% growth in July over June when it grew 15%. The growth bolstered by a recovery in the travel & tourism, hotel & hospitality, retail & recreation sectors has further pushed the hiring market. As quoted by an article in Business Standard – Out of the 11% quarter-on-quarter growth; Information Technology (61 per cent), Financial Services (48 per cent), and BPO/ITeS (47 per cent) have shown standout growth.

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TeamLease Services Limited

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