By the end of December, the short-term contracts of thousands of gig and temporary workers hired by e-commerce, logistics and consumer goods companies to handle holiday demand will end. They will find themselves out of work and will struggle to secure another opportunity.
Recruitment agencies are predicting that there will be an unusually large pool of talent available for recruitment from January. Many may have to accept lower pay or less favorable terms and conditions to remain employed.
“Barely 5-10% temporary staffing will be absorbed into the same company,” said Neeti Sharma, CEO of staffing and talent solutions company TeamLease Digital.
According to TeamLease data, 3-7% of these temporary and gig workers were absorbed by client firms last year.
Temporary workers are on the staffing supplier’s payroll and deployed to the client company, with contracts typically lasting 3 to 11 months. Gig workers are often hired for shifts that are limited to a few hours a day.
The number of people looking for work after the peak hiring period is expected to be higher this year as agencies hire 20% more gig and temporary workers in 2025 than the previous year. Income rose as retailers and consumer brands anticipated an increase in demand following a shorter summer, which caused a build-up of seasonal white goods.
The consumption this year was driven by the early start of the holiday season, greater access to online shopping and expectations of higher consumer spending due to tax savings.
Probable return migration
In India, the festive season of Ganesh Chaturthi begins, which fell on the last week of August this year compared to September last year. The auspicious shopping period extends beyond Diwali and ends at the end of December.
To handle the run-up Based on demand, employers hire additional fleet workers to deliver parcels, drivers and warehouse sorting workforce. To entice them to work longer hours, companies across sectors are offering a 15-20% increase in their regular wages. Delivery partners also get growth bonuses, participation rewards and higher delivery pay.
The fast-casual, e-commerce, retail, banking, and hospitality industries work with staffing contractors to provide them with labor, and many of these workers come from smaller cities.
“Barely 3% will be absorbed (after the festival season) and the rest will be put into other projects or some may go to other staffing firms,” said Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director of CIEL HR Service, which has a temporary workforce of about 50,000 at client sites. “Hiring demand may not be very strong in the coming quarters.”
Recruiters estimate that those selected during the festive season may move into the construction sector and many will prefer to move to tier 2 and 3 cities for a more affordable standard of living.
“30-40% of hires may struggle to land jobs immediately, ‘especially for gig workers’ unless they choose to return to their old jobs,” Sunil Chemankotil, country manager at staffing firm Adecco, told Mint.
Prepare recruitment platforms
Platforms like MyJobee, which primarily cater to quick business and e-commerce businesses, are bracing for the impact.
“Consumer spending has not picked up as strongly as expected, and many companies are being more cautious with budgets due to rising costs and broader economic uncertainty. As a result, many businesses are holding off on extending short-term contracts or adding new roles until demand stabilizes,” said Sujay Pidara, founder and CEO of labor recruitment platform MyJobee.
Laborers are individuals engaged in manual or hourly wage jobs such as delivery, warehousing, manufacturing, management, and field service.
Amazon, Flipkart and Eternal declined to comment. Swiggy didn’t answer MintUser inquiries at press time.
Outsourced logistics and supply chain services provider Emiza, which hired 80% more gig workers this holiday season than last year, said it is trying to absorb its seasonal workforce into its day-to-day operations after the holiday season.
Staffing firm Quess Corp is considering hiring large numbers of gig workers as part of its temporary workforce after the holidays.
“We’ve hired about 9,000 employees per month (gross addition and net income will be lower), mostly from performance talent last year after the holiday season ended,” said Lohit Bhatia, president and workforce management at Quess Corp. “This year, we’ve created the capacity to generate 20,000 (recruits) a month because we want to be ready for the extra summer.”
Bhatia pointed out that gig workers may want to switch to temporary payrolls because they receive funding and health benefits, and about 40% of them are hired as permanent employees after a few years.
