14:48
Ecommerce firm Flipkart said on Tuesday it had hired over 250,000 people, including for gig workers, to meet the festival season demand.
Nearly 75,000 of these roles (30 per cent) are for people entering the workforce for the first time, said the Walmart-owned company.
The jobs span over 7,000 facilities across the country, including fulfilment centres, sortation hubs and last-mile delivery operations.
With more than 900 new festival delivery hubs and nearly 140,000 additional last-mile employment opportunities, Flipkart is expanding its delivery network to meet customer demand ahead of its Big Billion Days shopping event.
Last-mile roles account for 60 per cent of the new employment created this season, reflecting the expansion of Flipkart Minutes as well as growing demand across Tier-II and Tier-III markets. The expansion is also creating greater opportunities for women and persons with disabilities across Flipkart's supply chain.
Women represent more than 20 per cent of supply chain roles, while participation of persons with disabilities has increased across warehouse and delivery operations.
Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate affairs officer, Flipkart Group, said commerce at scale creates opportunity at scale across jobs, livelihoods and entrepreneurship.
"As digital commerce grows across India, our responsibility is to ensure that this growth creates pathways into employment and entrepreneurship for more people, including communities that have historically had fewer opportunities to participate
in the formal economy," Kumar said.
Hemant Badri, senior vice-president, supply chain, customer experience and re-commerce, Flipkart Group, said the festival season brings together the full scale of India's commerce ecosystem, with the supply chain playing a critical role.
The development comes ahead of the festive season as the company faces intensifying competition from quick-commerce rivals including Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart.
-- Peerzada Abrar, Business Standard
