Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Sep 15: Walmart-owned e-commerce company Flipkart has created more than 2.5 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities, including gig-worker roles, ahead of the festive season as it expands its supply-chain and last-mile delivery network to meet rising customer demand.
Of the total opportunities, nearly 75,000, or around 30 per cent, are for people entering the workforce for the first time. The company said the initiative is creating pathways into employment for people across communities in India.
The employment opportunities span more than 7,000 Ekart facilities across the country, including fulfilment centres, sortation hubs and last-mile delivery operations.
Flipkart is also adding more than 900 festive delivery hubs and nearly 1.4 lakh additional last-mile employment opportunities as it strengthens its delivery network ahead of its Big Billion Days sale.
Last-mile roles account for around 60 per cent of the new employment created this festive season. The company attributed the expansion partly to the growth of Flipkart Minutes and increasing demand from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
The expansion is also opening up more opportunities for women and persons with disabilities across Flipkart's supply-chain operations. Women now account for more than 20 per cent of supply-chain roles, while the 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 opportunities across jobs, livelihoods and entrepreneurship.
He said the nearly 75,000 first-time workers joining the workforce through Flipkart during the festive season represented one part of a larger ecosystem.
“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.
He said Flipkart's collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, NCVET and ITI Kalyani through the Supply Chain Operations Academy (SCOA) was aimed at creating such pathways and helping people develop skills and careers alongside the growth of the digital commerce sector.
Hemant Badri, senior vice president of supply chain, customer experience and re-commerce at Flipkart Group, said the festive season brings together the full scale of India's commerce ecosystem, with the supply chain playing a crucial role.
“This year, we are expanding our fulfilment and last-mile network significantly to meet rising customer demand, while creating employment opportunities across the country,” Badri said.
He said the addition of more than 900 festive delivery hubs and nearly 1.4 lakh last-mile opportunities reflected the scale of the network's expansion, particularly as Flipkart Minutes grows and demand increases in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.
The employment expansion comes amid intensifying competition in India's e-commerce and quick-commerce sector. Flipkart is competing not only with Amazon India in traditional e-commerce but also with quick-commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart.
Amazon India recently announced that it had created more than 1.6 lakh seasonal employment opportunities for the festive period across its pan-India operations network supporting its e-commerce and quick-commerce businesses.
Amazon's seasonal opportunities include direct and indirect roles across 400 cities, covering major metropolitan centres as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities such as Varanasi, Kochi, Jalandhar, Ghaziabad, Ranchi, Salem and Gorakhpur.
The company said the opportunities included roles for thousands of women and associates with disabilities. The new workers are joining Amazon's existing operations network to help pick, pack, ship and deliver customer orders during the period of increased festive demand.
Amazon has already onboarded the majority of the seasonal workforce and started providing the required training ahead of the festive rush.
Meanwhile, Flipkart's SCOA has awarded nearly 10,000 certifications ahead of the festive season. Trainees receive hands-on experience in supply-chain operations under the programme, which is conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, NCVET and ITI Kalyani.
Flipkart said its marketplace ecosystem also supports millions of sellers, merchants and small businesses by helping them reach customers across India. The company said this creates additional opportunities for entrepreneurship and participation in the country's expanding digital-commerce economy.
The company also provides various support programmes for its supply-chain workforce, including medical and accident insurance, 24x7 Doctor on Call services and assistance with e-Shram registration.
The large-scale seasonal hiring comes as India's e-commerce companies prepare for a sharp increase in online shopping, deliveries and quick-commerce orders during the upcoming festive period.