Demand has jumped 15-20% year-on-year — going up to as much as 30-40% for ecommerce and quick commerce — on the back of increased consumer spending, positive rural sentiments and small cities and towns emerging as drivers of growth, said staffing services providers and recruitment portals such as Quess Corp, Randstad, Adecco, TeamLease Services, Manpower and Gigin Technologies.
Mainly, the festive demand comes from ecommerce/logistics, retail, consumer, BFSI / NBFC, telecom clients. In some cases, it’s for managing short-term demand spikes, the firms said.
Demand during this period surges mainly due to consumer spending in both urban and rural markets, said Lohit Bhatia, president of workforce management at Quess Corp. “In urban, it (higher spending) is primarily after the appraisals that happen in June/July months and bonuses that are generally in September/October/November months; it also coincides with seasonal spending increases, post-summer buying increases and overall festival environment.”
“The growth is largely consumption driven,” said Prashant Pandey, president at Manpower India, “We have observed that the overall consumer sentiment is improving year-on-year.”
This Diwali, urban markets are targeted for premium products and rural for volumes, said Balasubramanian A, senior vice-president, TeamLease Services. “Overall, there has been a 20% expansion in seasonal workforce. A significant part of this growth is attributed to Diwali, with over 70% of the expansion geared toward the festive window, which spans from the second week of October to the first week of November this year,” he added.Quick commerce, in particular, is expected to see a substantial expansion of 30-40%, driven by the rising consumer demand for fast deliveries during the festive period, he added.Agrees Manu Saigal, director – general staffing at Adecco. “New segments, such as quick commerce, sustainable products and luxury goods align with the mindset of Gen Z, as they want everything quickly; hence, there is a surge in demand there as well.”
With Zepto scaling up its operations especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, there is even greater demand for gig workers, said the quick-commerce firm’s chief operating officer, Vikas Sharma.
Incentives on the rise
Attendance bonuses, ranging from 15-25% of workers’ monthly salary; performance-based incentives including daily bonuses, particularly for workers in warehouses, retail and sales roles; and other employee engagement programmes are among initiatives being rolled out by companies to encourage regular attendance and motivate employees to meet/exceed daily targets, said Adecco’s Saigal.
“We are ramping up our efforts with targeted campaigns and incentives for new gig workers. Additionally, we have streamlined our training processes to ensure that new members are quickly and effectively integrated,” said Zepto’s Sharma.
To attract talent, many employers are offering competitive incentives, including higher pay rates, flexible working hours and performance bonuses, said Yeshab Giri, chief commercial officer, operational talent solutions at talent company Randstad India.
“Such measures are crucial for maintaining workforce morale and ensuring operational efficiency during this peak season,” Giri said.
Gigin Technologies chief executive Surinder Bhagat said companies offer bonus payouts, flexible shifts and transport facilities to deal with changing weather conditions and the increased workload. In some cases, health insurance and accident covers are also being offered to ensure worker safety during the busy festive season.
Most frontline employees earn handsome incentives that can go up to 50-100% of their monthly earnings during this time, against the average 10-25% incentive of monthly earnings, said Bhatia of Quess. “In some cases, the incentive during these two months can even touch the combined incentives earned across the rest of the year.”