Festive boom: Hiring surges 20% in India, fueled by e-commerce and tier-2 cities

As India heads into the peak of its festive season, companies across sectors are pulling out all stops to expand their workforce. Hiring activity has surged significantly compared to last year, driven by e-commerce, logistics, retail, and new-age industries. Experts say that not only is demand higher, but wages and incentives have also risen sharply, with Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities emerging as major hotspots for festive hiring.

Hiring Momentum Picks Up

According to Deepesh Gupta, Director and Head of General Staffing, Adecco India, “This festive season in India (2025), the demand for temporary staff has seen a year-on-year growth of 15–20% compared to 2024, with overall demand witnessing an uptick of 19%.”

Sachin Alug, CEO of NLB Services, echoes this optimism, noting that festive hiring demand has risen by an estimated 20–25% over the last year. He attributes the sharpest growth to quick commerce and third-party logistics, where investments in supply chain and last-mile delivery are fueling workforce expansion.

Balasubramanian A, Senior Vice President at TeamLease Services, pegs the overall festive hiring increase at 15–20% YoY, translating into more than 2.16 lakh temporary roles. “While the growth rate has eased from the post-pandemic highs, the absolute number of jobs keeps climbing, showing how central gig work has become to India’s festive economy,” he says.

Sectors Leading the Way

Retail and e-commerce remain the backbone of festive hiring. Gupta highlights a 10–15% increase in demand, driven by omnichannel retailing, AI-powered personalization, and the growing penetration of Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Popular roles in these sectors include digital marketers, supply chain workers like pickers, packers, loaders, and in-store sales staff.

Healthcare and pharmaceuticals are also seeing strong hiring momentum, fueled by telemedicine, wearable health tech, and seasonal disease awareness. Roles such as phlebotomists are in high demand.

BFSI and fintech continue to expand, particularly in digital banking and UPI-related services, with roles like risk analysts, compliance officers, blockchain developers, and credit card sales executives seeing traction.

Gupta adds that logistics and supply chain, along with seasonal gifting industries, are powering demand. “Delivery staff, warehouse associates, and customer support roles dominate festive hiring, but there’s also rising demand for sales promoters, inventory managers, in-store merchandisers, and order tracking coordinators,” he says.

Demand Beyond Metros

While metros continue to dominate in terms of hiring volumes, smaller cities are shaping the new festive hiring story.

“Tier-1 metros such as Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad remain the largest hiring markets, with festive jobs up by nearly 20% this year,” says Balasubramanian. “But the real momentum is coming from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities like Lucknow, Jaipur, Indore, Nagpur, Kochi, and Coimbatore, where festive hiring is up by almost 40%.”

Shilpa Subhaschandra, Chief Commercial Officer, Operational Talent Solutions, Randstad India, stresses that Tier-2 and Tier-3 hubs are not just filling seasonal gaps but “shaping the future of festive hiring.” She points to cities like Surat, Coimbatore, and Kochi as critical supply bases for gig talent and notes that hyperlocal deployment and micro-shifts are encouraging greater female participation in gig roles.

Higher Salaries and Incentives

A key trend this year is the rise in compensation. Gupta says, “Average salaries for festive hires have increased compared to last year, with metro cities witnessing a 12–15% year-on-year rise, while emerging Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities have recorded a sharper increase of 18–22%.”

Alug adds that wage growth is not uniform: “In metro cities, festive workers are seeing compensation rise by about 14–15%. The sharper growth is in non-metro and emerging cities, where wages have increased by 18–22%.”

Incentives are another big driver. Companies are offering attendance and performance-linked bonuses, daily and monthly incentives, and surge payouts. Gupta highlights that top performers are now receiving extra payouts during peak festive weeks — ranging from ₹2,000–₹5,000 per week for gig workers and completion bonuses of up to ₹10,000.

According to Subhaschandra, salaries for delivery staff this season are ₹22,000–32,000 per month (including incentives), while retail staff earn ₹21,000–27,000, and warehouse associates ₹17,000–23,000. Employers are sweetening deals with joining bonuses, referral incentives, and peak-day surge pay, she says.

Narrowing Gap Between Temporary and Permanent Workers

One of the most significant shifts in festive hiring is the pay gap between temporary and permanent workers. Gupta notes, “The salary gap between temporary festive hires and permanent employees in India has narrowed significantly. Today, over 40% of job profiles across industries reflect less than a 5% difference in pay, and in some cases, it has shrunk further to just 2.2–2.5%.”

Alug adds that while permanent employees continue to enjoy year-round benefits, “with attractive offerings such as overtime pay, performance incentives, and shift-linked bonuses, many festive workers in frontline roles are now able to match, and in some cases exceed, the earnings of their permanent counterparts during this period.”

Gig Workers Take Center Stage

Gig workers especially in delivery and logistics are seeing their pay rates rise sharply. Alug says average monthly earnings for delivery partners rose by 11.6%, while dark store workers saw a 9% increase.

Balasubramanian also notes that companies are introducing more dynamic earnings models, including per-delivery payouts and surge-time incentives, which allow workers to maximize income during peak periods.

Early Hiring and Preparedness

Another shift this year is in timing. Subhaschandra observes that “unlike earlier years where companies scrambled at the last minute, organisations are now locking in talent 4–6 weeks ahead of demand.” She attributes this to a muted summer sales season and early monsoons, which pushed companies to front-load their festive hiring.

Balasubramanian, however, tempers this view, noting that while hiring has begun earlier than last year, it is still cautious. “Instead of in mid-to-end July, the ramp-up has started in August,” he says, pointing to a more measured approach following last year’s weaker sales.

Employer Investments Per Hire

Festive hiring is not cheap. Alug estimates that employers typically invest between ₹30,000 and ₹1.5 lakh per festive hire, factoring in recruitment, training, and onboarding, especially in retail and e-commerce. Shilpa places the figure at ₹22,000–35,000 per hire in metros and ₹18,000–28,000 in smaller cities.

These costs are justified, say experts, as employers compete to secure workers and reduce attrition. Incentives and bonuses alone have risen by 15–20% compared to 2024, according to Balasubramanian.

Post-Festive Outlook

The big question is whether these wage trends will last beyond the festive season. Alug believes festive pay scales will taper, but worker expectations are shifting. “Workers are beginning to benchmark their value against peak earnings, and that expectation is gradually reshaping how employers think about compensation beyond just the festive window,” he says.

Balasubramanian expects that while base pay may retreat to pre-season levels, incentive-based compensation models such as attendance and performance bonuses could persist into the non-festive months. Shilpa agrees, adding that festive hiring is now a “test bed for how India’s workforce of tomorrow will look”, with lasting shifts in diversity, hyperlocal deployment, and flexible scheduling.

Read More:The Great Divide: Pay parity remains complex for India's festive workforce