Bengaluru: India’s organised sector is expected to create more than 2.5 lakh temporary and gig jobs this festive season, up from an estimated 2.1 lakh last year, driven by strong demand from logistics, e-commerce, quick commerce and retail.Seasonal hiring is projected to grow 15–20%, broadly in line with last year, according to staffing firms.Logistics and last-mile delivery are expected to lead the hiring surge, with demand rising 30–35%, Adecco India said. Organised retail and e-commerce could see 25–28% growth, while NLB Services expects quick-commerce platforms to increase temporary hiring by 35–40%.“The festive hiring season continues to evolve beyond volume hiring to precision hiring,” said Balasubramanian A, senior vice-president and business head at TeamLease.He said hiring growth would be led by e-commerce, retail, logistics and quick commerce.Demand is expanding beyond traditional roles such as delivery partners, pickers and packers to include dark-store associates, inventory coordinators, automation operators and returns staff. Familiarity with inventory management systems and app-based workflows is becoming increasingly important.Hiring has also begun earlier this year. Adecco found that employers are planning their festive workforce nearly 12 weeks in advance, compared with 8–10 weeks last year.“Workforce planning has shifted earlier in the hiring cycle,” said Deepesh Gupta, director and head of general staffing at Adecco India.TeamLease expects average compensation to rise 8–10% this season. Its data showed median monthly cost-to-company increasing from Rs 20,282 in the second half of 2024 to Rs 20,525 in 2025.Adecco expects wages to rise 10–15%, including 12–15% in metros and 8–10% in smaller cities.Tier-II and tier-III cities are expected to account for 45% of incremental workforce demand, according to Adecco. Shiprocket-Deloitte data showed their share of shipments rising from 34.2% in FY25 to 37% in FY26. TeamLease, however, expects tier-I cities to account for a larger share of festive hiring, with their contribution increasing from 38.2% to 40.5% on the back of rapid dark-store expansion.The number of women taking up seasonal roles is expected to rise 30–35%, Adecco said, compared with 23% last year. TeamLease, however, estimated women’s share of festive workers at 15% in 2025, up marginally from 14.5% a year earlier. Nearly a quarter of festive associates are expected to transition into longer-term roles.Adecco said 80% of employers are struggling to find frontline talent, although the peak demand-supply gap is expected to narrow to 10–15% from 25–30% last year.
