Festive season to generate 2.7L temporary, gig jobs in India
What's the story
India's upcoming festive season is set to generate between 2.5 lakh and 2.7 lakh temporary and gig jobs, a report by Adecco India has said. The hiring is expected to grow by 15-20% year-on-year, driven mainly by the e-commerce, logistics, quick commerce, organized retail, and BFSI sectors. Nearly half of the demand will come from tier-II and III cities such as Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, and Coimbatore.
Market resilience
Domestic consumption driving demand
Deepesh Gupta, Director and Head of General Staffing at Adecco India, said that this year's festive season is witnessing a strong hiring intent despite a complex global business environment.
He noted that domestic consumption continues to drive demand in retail, e-commerce, logistics, and other consumer-facing sectors.
However, he also cautioned that employers are planning more cautiously due to geopolitical developments and energy price volatility.
Workforce dynamics
Talent crunch in tier-I cities
The report highlights that tier-I cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad are facing the biggest talent crunch at 30%.
This is due to increased workforce mobility and a growing preference for gig work.
In response to this demand-supply imbalance, temporary wages are expected to rise by 12-15% in metro markets and 8-10% in tier-II/III regions.
Recruitment trends
Shift in hiring focus
The report also notes a shift in hiring focus from new job categories to scaling up critical operational roles.
Retail sales associates, customer support representatives, field sales executives, merchandisers, and manufacturing operators are key to in-store and BFSI-linked hiring.
Employers are now looking for multilingual candidates fluent in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi with digital proficiency who can work in customer-facing operational roles.
Employment challenges
Talent availability challenges
Despite the positive hiring outlook, talent availability remains a challenge, with around 80% of employers facing shortages in frontline and operational roles this festive season.
Adecco estimates a 10-15% demand-supply gap during peak hiring times.
The report also predicts that nearly 25% of seasonal associates will be absorbed into long-term roles, highlighting the importance of festive jobs as a gateway to India's organized workforce.