Companies in the e-commerce, food-tech, logistics and retail sectors in India are likely to increase hiring of temporary workers for the upcoming festival season by 20%-35%, reports The Economic Times, citing research from staffing firms. The expected rise in hiring temp workers is to meet an expected surge in demand driven by discounts.

Staffing firms Adecco Group, Randstad, Manpower, Quess, CIEL HR Services and Team-Lease told the Economic Times that most companies in these segments are bullish about an uptick in festival-season demand led by a rebound in consumer confidence after the ebbing of the second Covid-19 wave. The demand for more hands is expected in the delivery, logistics, warehouse, sorting and packing segments, they said. Ecommerce and logistics players are expected to hire more to meet the expected surge in orders.

Yeshab Giri, director of staffing at Randstad India, said seasonal hiring of temporary staff in 2019 was 15% higher than in 2018, while in 2020 the growth was 20%, largely due to demand from tier 2 & 3 cities. "The year 2021 has seen a surge in demand for new temp staff, which is likely to be close to 35% higher than last year, as most offline retailers have gone digital," said Giri. Meanwhile, Alok Kumar, senior director at Manpower, said more than 300,000 job vacancies are expected to be created by companies in e-commerce, logistics, consumer durables and the lifestyle products segments during this year's festival season. Notable festivals in India include the Diwali festival which starts in November.