Flipkart, Amazon sale create lakhs of jobs in India

New Delhi: India’s biggest festive e-commerce season sale is about to begin in the next few days, coinciding with the beginning of the Durga Puja and Navratri festival and weeks ahead of Diwali and Dussehra. Both Flipkart’s The Big Billion Days sale and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival sale begin from October 10. Flipkart’s sale ends on October 14 while Amazon’s will last a day longer.

Across offices and warehouses of the two e-commerce majors Flipkart and Amazon, preparations are on a war scale as the companies try to beat each other in getting the largest share of the pie.

In the last few months, both Flipkart and Amazon have directly hired about 80,000 people, including temporary workers, to handle the massive jump in orders during the sale season .If indirect jobs are taken into account then the number of new jobs run into a few lakhs.

Walmart-backed Flipkart has hired 30,000 people to bolster its supply chain and logistics unit in the last few months. The e-commerce major estimates that its seller partners have added over 5 lakh indirect jobs.

Most of the new hires are delivery boys and those managing deliveries in warehouses and hubs. Flipkart says the additional indirect jobs created at the seller location are in packaging and warehouse management where the e-commerce company also partners these sellers for providing the right training to the hired talent.

Flipkart has also bolstered its infrastructure network by adding a total of 16 flex fulfilment centres and 15 mother hubs to its supply chain network.

“The hiring and upskilling of the newly recruited staff is in line with the government’s National Skill Development Mission, and will provide a major boost to local employment and the economy. All hired personnel undergo training in supply chain processes for their respective function, and are trained to handle hand-held devices, PoS machines, scanners, various mobile applications and ERPs,” Flipkart said.

As a result, these employees become ready to work in tech-driven supply chains, food-tech and other allied industries.

“Along with ensuring that our customers have a seamless shopping experience, we want the economy to benefit from the increased activity. By generating employment and enabling our sellers to scale their businesses during this time, we’re playing an important role in driving the industry and subsequently the economy,” said Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy.

Amazon India hired 50,000 people

Amazon India, on the other hand, has hired around 50,000 temporary workers to pick, pack, ship and deliver orders in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune. A number of these seasonal recruits is also working in its call centres in 16 cities. Amazon India, which recently launched its Hindi version, is also offering call centre support in several languages like Tamil, Kannada and Telugu.

The new hirings are part of an ongoing infrastructure and delivery network augmentation exercise.

Amazon India Vice-President (India customer fulfilment) Akhil Saxena said the company had more than doubled the number of seasonal associates in its fulfilment network and customer service sites compared to the previous festive season.

Amazon India has a network of over 50 fulfilment centres, multiple sortation centres and close to 150 delivery stations across the country.