In a grim job market the surprise bit of good news is that temporary staffing services may shoot up in the coming festive season. And the reason is counter intuitive.
To aggressively push sales in festive season, ecommerce firms & FMCG cos are hiring more staffers.
by https://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Precisely because consumer demand is stagnant companies are looking to push sales aggressively and therefore hire more staff. Staffing firms like Quess, TeamLease Services, Manpower, Kelly Services and CIEL HR Services expect a 10%-15% jump in temp hiring. .
“Companies will try harder to promote sales during the season,” said BN Thammaiah, managing director, Kelly Services India. “Overall temp staff hiring may be upwards of 15%”, he said. Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, said he anticipates a 10% growth in demand for temp staff.
There is higher demand for people in customer services, logistics and sales, said Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder, TeamLease Services. “Undergraduates/graduates with good communication skills are very employable in sales jobs, delivery and food tech,” she said.
Temp staffing firms said ecommerce firms led by Flipkart and Amazon will be front runners in hiring. Swiggy and Urban Clap are others with hiring plans.
Consumer durables and retail sectors, too, have upped hiring. Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) is also expected to join the hiring bandwagon, with HDFC Bank NSE -2.37 %, Axis Bank NSE 0.17 % and Bajaj Finserv planning to push products at points of sale. Laggards are automotive and manufacturing sectors.
“For us, BFSI has emerged in pole position, followed closely by retail,” said Lohit Bhatia, president, workforce management at Quess Corp.
A majority of millennials are looking for EMI options, bundled offers and special schemes while purchasing products, which banks, non-banking finance companies and consumer loan providers will hard-sell during the festive season, Bhatia said.
Alok Kumar, senior director (sales, account management and global accounts) at Manpower India, said the company expects a 25-30% increase in demand for temp workers compared to last year.
“Consumer companies – durables, mobile devices, lifestyle products — are looking positive as they will focus on this period to revive sales. Finance companies dealing with consumer loans are also coming up with large demands. With quick loans available for end-customers, consumer companies are piggy-backing their fortunes on these,” Kumar said.
The demand for temp staffers typically begins from the Onam festival in Kerala and lasts up to New Year’s Eve. For most companies, particularly those in the retail and fast moving consumer goods space, about 60% of annual sales happen during these months. This year, with Eid and Independence Day running into weekends, the action is poised to kick off earlier.
Flipkart and Samsung did not respond to email queries. An Amazon spokesperson told ET it was too early to share projected numbers (on hiring temp staff) for this year. Panasonic India is looking to increase temp hiring by 25% compared to the previous year, said Adarsh Mishra, its chief human resources officer.
by https://economictimes.indiatimes.com