A Seasonal Hiring Spree
As India gears up for its peak consumption period, e-commerce, quick commerce, and logistics firms are on a hiring blitz. Projections for the second half of 2026 indicate the creation of over 250,000 temporary and gig opportunities to manage the expected
surge in orders. This represents a significant year-on-year growth in seasonal employment, with estimates ranging from a 15-20% increase in festive hiring. Companies like Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra are leading the charge, collectively adding hundreds of thousands of roles to bolster their fulfilment centres, sortation hubs, and last-mile delivery networks. For example, Amazon announced over 160,000 seasonal positions, while Myntra is adding more than 26,000 roles across its operations.
The Rise of Tier-2 Hubs
What's different this year is where these jobs are booming. While metros like Bengaluru and Mumbai still command a large share, the fastest growth is happening in secondary urban centres. Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are expected to account for nearly half of the entire festive hiring demand, with job creation in these markets projected to grow by as much as 30%. Cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Indore, and Nagpur are emerging as critical logistics hubs. This geographical shift is a direct result of e-commerce platforms and logistics providers expanding their regional fulfilment networks to get closer to a rapidly growing customer base in smaller cities, ensuring faster delivery times and better service.
What the Work Looks Like
The vast majority of these temporary roles are in the operational backbone of e-commerce. The most in-demand positions are for delivery and last-mile executives, warehouse associates, pickers, and packers. These frontline jobs involve everything from sorting packages at massive fulfilment centres to ensuring they reach the customer's doorstep. Monthly salaries for warehouse roles often range from ₹18,000 to ₹20,000, with delivery partners having the potential to earn more through incentives during peak demand. Beyond these traditional roles, a new category of 'new-age' operational jobs is also on the rise, including dark-store inventory controllers, returns and refunds specialists, and order-management specialists, reflecting the increasing technological sophistication of the logistics sector.
Why Now, Why Here?
Several powerful trends are converging to drive this decentralised hiring boom. The primary driver is the deep penetration of e-commerce and quick commerce beyond the metros. An expanding base of digitally savvy consumers with rising disposable incomes in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities has made these markets too large to ignore. To serve them effectively, companies must build local infrastructure. This expansion is supported by improvements in payment systems and regional logistics, making it economically viable to establish warehouses and delivery hubs in places like Surat and Bhubaneswar. The result is a fundamental shift in India's consumption economy, where employment opportunities are now following the trail of online shoppers into the heartland.
A Glimpse into the Future
This festive surge is more than just a temporary spike; it's a window into the future of India's labour market. For many, these seasonal jobs serve as a crucial entry point into the workforce, with a significant number of roles targeting freshers and first-time workers. Furthermore, employers are increasingly seeing the festive season as an opportunity to assess talent at scale. A notable percentage of these temporary hires, estimated by some to be over 10%, may be retained beyond the season through contract extensions or conversion to longer-term roles. This trend suggests that the annual festive rush is becoming a strategic tool for workforce planning, helping to build a more flexible, geographically diverse, and digitally ready talent pool for the long term.
