Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 15: Staffing firms expect seasonal hiring to rise 10–15% this festive season. Flipkart and Amazon India are adding roles. But weak demand and ample labour may keep bonuses flat.
This festive season may bring more jobs without bigger pay cheques. Companies are adding temporary and gig workers ahead of the Diwali rush. Yet inflation, a weak monsoon and uncertain sales could cap what those workers earn.
Staffing agencies expect seasonal hiring of contract and gig workers to rise 10–15% year-on-year. E-commerce, logistics, consumer and auto companies are driving the demand.
Two of India’s largest e-commerce players illustrate the scale. Flipkart has raised festive job opportunities to more than 250,000, from over 220,000 in 2025. Amazon India has created over 160,000 seasonal opportunities across e-commerce and quick commerce. That compares with more than 150,000 in August 2025. These are seasonal openings, not permanent jobs.
Distress swells the labour pool
Rural distress could add to labour supply. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have declared drought conditions amid El Niño. Sunil Chemmankotil, country manager of Adecco India, expects more farm workers to head to cities. That would widen the pool of available workers, he said.
A. Balasubramanian, senior vice-president at TeamLease, noted that farm workers already migrate seasonally. They usually return to their fields towards the end of November. Scarcer farm work could trigger an additional spike this year, he said.
Ample labour weakens the case for higher payouts. Chemmankotil expects bonuses and performance-linked pay to stay similar to last year. Employers, he said, will find sufficient workers in delivery, logistics, e-commerce and retail.
Spending under strain
The hiring push rests on demand that may not materialise. Retail inflation reached 5.54% in September, close to the RBI’s 6% upper tolerance limit. The central bank raised its repo rate 25 basis points to 5.5% on 7 October. Both squeeze household budgets.
Earlier momentum came partly from 2025’s GST overhaul. It cut rates on passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and premium durables to 18% from 28%. That momentum may fade after the festive season, experts warn.
Prices of cars, electronics and homes keep rising. Appliance input costs are climbing, and companies have been raising prices. Smartphone sales may post their steepest decline in a decade on costlier memory chips. Balasubramanian said September was weak for several consumer-facing firms. Buoyant demand around Dussehra would help, but the outlook is unclear, he added.
Seasonal workers fall into two broad groups. Temporary staff are hired through third-party vendors for three to six months. Gig workers, often in delivery, may work for several companies. Kartik Narayan, chief executive of Apna, said small-town workers may want assured earnings. Delivery volumes there tend to be lower than in big cities.
Pay for picking, packing, shipping and delivery roles is largely unchanged, recruiters said. Such jobs pay ₹25,000–₹50,000, including incentives. Suchita Dutta of the Indian Staffing Federation said gig work had lifted staffing pay. It now runs ₹20,000–₹40,000 a month, up from ₹12,000–₹30,000. A bonus typically equals a month’s pay, she said. Anything extra depends on productivity, which weaker demand would dent.
Festive employment, then, may expand without lifting workers’ earnings. More jobs and more hands could leave seasonal pay largely where it was.
