Festival Season Hiring in India: How E-commerce, Logistics, and the Gig Economy are Redefining Entry-Level Work

In September 2025, Amazon India announced the creation of over 150,000 seasonal job opportunities to meet festive demand. Soon after, Flipkart revealed that it would hire more than 100,000 temporary and gig workers across its supply chain, including warehousing, delivery, and customer support. These announcements marked the start of one of India’s largest annual hiring surges.

Each year, the Indian job market undergoes a transformation during the festival season. The months leading up to Diwali bring a wave of recruitment across e-commerce, logistics, and gig platforms, opening doors for fresh graduates and first-time jobseekers. What began as a short-term workforce strategy has now become a major employment generator and a valuable learning platform for young professionals.

The Scale of Hiring

Festive season hiring in 2025 is projected to rise by 20 to 25 percent compared to last year, creating nearly 200,000 new jobs across sectors. Around 70 percent of these roles are gig-based, with the rest being fixed-term or permanent positions.

E-commerce firms continue to drive this surge. Flipkart, Amazon, and Meesho have all expanded their warehousing and logistics networks. Flipkart’s "Big Billion Days" sale alone resulted in a 35 percent increase in temporary hiring across key states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.

Quick-commerce companies like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart have also intensified their hiring efforts. Recruitment in this sector is expected to grow by up to 40 percent during the 2025 festive season.

Logistics companies, including Delhivery, Ecom Express, and Shadowfax, are scaling up their delivery workforce to handle rising shipment volumes. Delhivery plans to expand its network by 25 percent to manage a 30 to 40 percent increase in parcels.

This surge is not limited to metropolitan areas. Hiring in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities such as Surat, Coimbatore, Indore, and Lucknow has increased sharply, reflecting growing consumer demand in regional markets. Nearly half of all gig hiring this year is expected to come from non-metro locations, driven by expanding e-commerce access and stronger spending in smaller cities.

How Organisations are Responding

The hiring rush has led companies to take a more structured approach to short-term recruitment. Many firms are now investing in early skilling initiatives where recruits undergo short training programs in warehouse operations, safety standards, and digital inventory management before deployment. This helps reduce onboarding time and improves efficiency during peak sales.

Blended workforce models are also becoming common. Companies are combining permanent employees with contract and gig workers, often converting top-performing seasonal hires into longer-term roles. Around a quarter of gig workers employed during the festive season are later retained through extended contracts or full-time offers.

However, the pace of hiring has also revealed certain gaps. Several logistics and delivery firms have faced operational challenges such as incomplete background verification and inconsistent workforce documentation. These issues have highlighted the need for better due diligence, even in temporary staffing.

Opportunities and Challenges for Young Talent

For young jobseekers, especially fresh graduates and diploma holders, the festive season provides a crucial entry point into the workforce. Most available roles are in warehousing, delivery, data entry, inventory coordination, and sales support. These positions offer valuable exposure to supply chain management, customer service, and technology-based operations.

At the same time, the gig-heavy nature of this hiring wave presents challenges. Workers often experience variable pay and long hours during high-demand periods. Many delivery partners have reported lower per-delivery earnings during sale events due to changing incentive structures. For young professionals seeking steady growth, this volatility can make short-term roles less appealing.

Skill expectations are also evolving. Employers now prefer candidates who are digitally literate, adaptable, and capable of using mobile-based logistics applications. Freshers who quickly learn operational systems are more likely to secure long-term employment. Government programs such as Skill India and private skilling initiatives are helping bridge this gap through short-term certifications in logistics, e-commerce, and customer engagement.

Globally, similar trends are evident. In the United States, Amazon, Walmart, and UPS hire tens of thousands of seasonal workers during the holiday period. Amazon’s 2024 announcement of 250,000 temporary hires for its U.S. operations highlights how global supply chains now rely heavily on tech-enabled temporary labour. The Indian market mirrors this pattern, but with faster expansion and deeper regional participation.

The Changing Shape of Work

The festive hiring season is increasingly being viewed as a reflection of India’s evolving employment landscape. As e-commerce and logistics networks expand, short-term contracts are becoming a testing ground for new workforce models.

Three major trends are shaping the change:

1. Continuous Seasonal Cycles: Sales events and regional festivals are spreading demand more evenly across the year, creating a rolling need for manpower rather than one concentrated peak.

2. Integration of Gig and Permanent Roles: Companies are creating structured conversion pathways from gig work to fixed-term employment, rewarding performance and reliability.

3. Regional Workforce Development: Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are emerging as new employment hubs, reducing migration pressures and building a more inclusive labour base.

A Look Ahead

Festival season hiring has become an integral part of India’s consumer and employment ecosystem. It showcases how e-commerce and logistics sectors have turned seasonal demand into large-scale employment opportunities. For young professionals, it provides practical experience, income, and exposure to high-growth industries.

As businesses invest more in training, analytics, and regional talent development, this model could evolve into a more stable and skill-oriented employment system. The festive hiring surge is no longer just about meeting demand; it represents the future of work in India—dynamic, tech-driven, and increasingly inclusive.