Etailers step up hiring ahead of festive season

Ecommerce companies in India are rapidly stepping up hiring of riders, delivery boys and warehouse personnel for the next couple of months amid the approaching festive season demand. They are handing out incentives such as higher pay for this duration, joining bonuses and attendance bonuses to attract talent.Amazon, Flipkart, Ecom Express, Shadowfax, Swiggy, Transport Corporation of India and Pickrr are among those who are increasing manpower as the festive celebrations of Ganesh Chathurthi, Navratri, Diwali, Christmas and New Year are around the corner, said company executives.The two months of IPL and T20 World Cup cricket are also expected to add to the demand for riders from food delivery companies as food ordering typically goes up as people watch the matches from their homes, said industry experts.And the numbers in many cases are significantly higher than last year's festive season."This year, we foresee positive customer sentiment given that people finally seem to be coming out of the pandemic-induced anxiety and have adapted to the new normal," said Saurabh Deep Singla, chief human resource officer, Ecom Express, a logistics firm.The company plans to onboard 35,000 delivery associates in addition to hiring 12,000 people across its hubs, fulfilment and sortation centers. Last year, it had hired 30,000 people before the festive season. Shadowfax Technologies, which currently has about 65,000 delivery agents and on-ground staff, is looking to increase manpower by 40-60%, according to chief executive Abhishek Bansal. This means an addition of 25,000-40,000 people."Apart from joining bonuses that our riders get, we also introduce higher pay for a select period to pass on the real benefits to them," said Bansal."We expect 30% more demand in this upcoming festive season," said Alok Kumar, senior director of sales, account management and global accounts at ManpowerGroup India. "Companies are giving joining bonuses ranging from 1.5k to 3k for early joiners. In addition, there are special incentives for 100% attendance and performance-linked incentives for meeting and exceeding their assigned targets." Amazon, which added over 100,000 seasonal jobs last festive season, said it will add more to its delivery and warehouse fleet. "This year too, we will welcome seasonal associates while prioritising safety measures and precautions, as they join more than tens of thousands of our associates at Amazon's fulfilment centres and delivery network across the country," a spokesperson said. Food delivery firm Swiggy and ecommerce company Flipkart too said they are continuously hiring for their delivery and supply chain workforce.Flipkart in the last festive season had onboarded people from 50,000 kirana stores to act as part-time delivery executives. The company will continue this programme this year as well.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/38Nh6Lc