Companies in India hired a record 400,000 gig and temporary workers to serve festival shopping demand, reports LiveMint, citing research from the Indian Staffing Federation. It comes as consumers enjoy the first Diwali festival without pandemic curbs in three years. Hiring for last-mile deliveries was led by logistics, e-commerce and food tech platforms, including many last-minute hirings. The Federation said that while there is no strict delineation between gig and temp workers, gig work is used to refer to short-duration work, while temp workers are hired for several months at a stretch. Temp staffing is relatively more organised as well, and when hired via staffing firms, workers have access to benefits and insurance.

Lohit Bhatia, president of the Indian Staffing Federation, said, “This festive season, hiring has beaten all previous records. This time, the festivals are clubbed together, so that brings with it more recruitment. Pre-pandemic, during the festive season, about 200,000 would get hired. Now, with gig workforce and organised temp staffing, the numbers can cross 400,000.”