More than 2.5 lakh temporary and gig jobs are expected to be created this festive season as e-commerce, quick-commerce and logistics companies expand hiring to handle higher order volumes, with nearly 45% of workforce demand coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
The estimate comes as companies increase their fulfilment, sorting and last-mile capacity ahead of the festive shopping period. Logistics and last-mile delivery hiring is expected to rise by around 30-35% as companies prepare for higher order volumes, longer sale periods and faster fulfilment, according to Deepesh Gupta, Director and Head of General Staffing at Adecco India.
The overall market is expected to generate around 2.5-2.7 lakh temporary and gig jobs, compared with about 2.16 lakh last year.
The expansion is also spreading beyond major metros. South and West India are seeing strong festive hiring and network expansion, particularly in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad, which have large warehouse, dark-store and logistics ecosystems.
Amazon said it has created more than 1.6 lakh seasonal work opportunities across more than 400 cities and is investing over Rs 2,800 crore in its operations network and technology.
Abhinav Singh, VP – Operations, India, APAC, Middle East, Türkiye and Africa, Amazon, said, “Ahead of the festive season, we have announced the biggest-ever expansion of our operations network with 20 new fulfilment centres, six new sort centres and 150 new last-mile delivery stations across 118 cities, with a strong focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.”
“Alongside this infrastructure expansion, we have created more than 160,000 seasonal work opportunities across 400+ cities to support our e-commerce and quick-commerce business,” he added.
Flipkart has announced more than 2.5 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities, including gig workers, with nearly 75,000 going to first-time workforce entrants. About 60% of the opportunities are in last-mile delivery, supported by more than 900 new festive delivery hubs.
Myntra is adding more than 26,000 seasonal roles, more than double last year’s seasonal workforce. The jobs cover fulfilment, last-mile delivery and customer service across five centres, with 8,000 delivery partners and 2,700 customer service roles.
Meesho expects to enable over 10 lakh seasonal job opportunities, including around 6.5 lakh across its seller network and 3.75 lakh across the logistics ecosystem. The company said nearly 1.3 lakh sellers are expected to hire seasonal workers.
Quick-commerce firm Zepto, however, said it is taking a different approach. Vikas Sharma, Chief Operating Officer, Zepto, said, “At Zepto, our approach to building capacity for the festive season is focused on long-term scalability rather than short-term expansion. While demand increases during peak periods, we continue to invest in a stable, permanent workforce instead of relying on temporary staffing.”
