E-commerce platforms ramp up seasonal hiring ahead of festivities, create over 3.8 lakh jobs

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) Indian e-commerce platforms are ramping up seasonal hiring as they anticipate a surge in demand over the upcoming festive season.

Major e-commerce platforms, including Flipkart, Amazon, and Myntra, have created over 3.8 lakh seasonal job opportunities across their supply chain, logistics, and customer service operations.

Flipkart announced the creation of over 2.2 lakh seasonal roles, alongside the establishment of 650 new festive-only delivery hubs in tier-2 and 3 cities.

"In the lead-up to the festive season, Flipkart is scaling employment opportunities, infrastructure, and tech deployments across 28 states. With the creation of over 2.2 lakh job opportunities, expanded last-mile reach, and inclusive hiring across Tier-2 and 3 cities, Flipkart's ecosystem-first approach this festive season is built for scale," the company said.

Amazon India has created over 1.5 lakh seasonal work opportunities in its network of fulfilment centres, sort centres, and last-mile delivery stations.

These include direct and indirect work opportunities in 400-plus cities across India, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Lucknow, among others.

Amazon has also launched 12 new fulfilment centres (FCs) and expanded 6 FCs to cater to the festive rush. It announced the launch of six new sort centres in Hubli, Trivandrum, Rajpura, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, and Prayagraj.

Fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform Myntra has generated over 11,000 new job opportunities through its partners to manage the anticipated increase in demand during its upcoming festive sale.

These seasonal roles will bolster the company's logistics, customer service, and last-mile operations, according to a company statement.

These warehouse positions will cover sorting, grading, and packing functions across fulfilment centres in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi.

"We anticipate a 20-25 per cent increase in festive hiring across the blue- and grey-collar segments compared to last year. Interestingly, hiring requirements from our customers jumped 53 per cent between July and August alone, signalling a start to festive preparation. With Diwali arriving earlier this year, we expect strong momentum in Q2 itself," Nitin Dave, CEO of Quess Staffing Solutions, said.

The surge is driven by a structural shift beyond the metros. Tier-2 cities like Jaipur, Coimbatore, Indore, and Nagpur are emerging as vibrant employment hubs as businesses expand beyond traditional markets, Dave said.

Over the past five years, festive gig hiring in India has gone through a phase of rapid growth followed by gradual stabilisation.

While the growth rate has eased from the post-pandemic highs, the absolute number of jobs keeps climbing, showing how gig work has become central to India's festive economy, said TeamLease Service Senior Vice President Balasubramanian A.

"Delivery personnel remain in highest demand, making up close to 40 per cent of festive hires. This is followed by warehouse workers (20 per cent), customer support executives (15 per cent), retail floor staff (10 per cent), and field technicians (8 per cent). The hiring mix remains heavily tilted towards delivery and logistics, in line with the expansion of e-commerce and quick commerce," he said. PTI ANK TRB TRB