E-commerce companies and delivery platforms are scrambling to hire workers during peak summer demand but are finding it difficult to fill roles on time, as experienced gig workers increasingly refuse to play ball, recruitment firms said.
These gig workers are no longer attracted by slightly higher pay on another platform, and in some cases even dropping out late in the hiring process, as they look for formal, stable jobs with predictable incomes to cope with rising living costs. This has pushed up hiring costs by 15-20% this summer season as gig workers prefer fixed-salary jobs that pay at least ₹15,000-20,000 a month - levels that still fall short of their financial needs.
“We are observing signs of a supply-side constraint. Job applications on MyJobee have seen a slight decline compared to last month, while interview attendance and joining conversions have dropped more sharply—indicating a widening gap between demand and actual worker availability. In several cases, candidates are applying but not progressing further, signaling intent without immediate availability,” said Sujay Pidara, founder of blue and grey-collar jobs platform MyJobee.
Blue-collar jobs typically involve physical labour, while grey-collar jobs are often a blend of manual and technical skills.
Gig workers find employment across delivery, logistics, warehouse firms and platforms. Unlike the white and blue collared workforce, gig workers can simultaneously be employed by rival firms. They are either hired directly by the company or engaged through third-party agencies, where the hiring firm sources workers on behalf of its clients.
India had a total of 7.7 million gig and platform workers in 2020-21, which is expected to expand to 23.5 million by 2029-30, according to estimates by NITI Aayog. E-commerce employs over 3.7 million gig workers, followed by logistics (1.5 million) and BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) and manufacturing 1 million each, according to the Economic Survey 2026. Gig workers represent 2% of India's total workforce, and are projected to constitute 6.7% of the manpower by FY30, contributing ₹2.35 trillion to the gross domestic product (GDP), the Survey noted.
State elections last month also tightened gig worker supply, as many returned to their hometowns to cast their votes. Their unavailability comes at a time when India is expected to have one of the hottest summers ever recorded-which is also turning away many of the workers.
Minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers are different in different states. In Delhi, for instance, the minimum monthly wages for unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers are ₹18,456, ₹20,371, and ₹22,411, respectively. Typically, a gig worker can earn ₹15,000 -20,000 in a month, which can go up to ₹30,000-40,000 depending on the work , and the number of deliveries.
“Reduced conversion efficiency—manifested through higher no-shows, lower interview turnout, and increased follow-ups—is pushing up the effective cost per hire…Continued worker unavailability is also beginning to impact day-to-day operations for employers,” Pidara noted.
E-commerce platform Flipkart said its operations take into account seasonal factors to ensure it has sufficient gig workforce to meet customer demand.
”Flipkart leverages a highly integrated supply chain network and delivery workforce across the group, including Flipkart, Minutes, Myntra, and Shopsy, to meet our customer commitments....We also build in flexibility that ensures we are able to accommodate various factors, including seasonal and weather changes, sales events, and shifts in demand influenced by both national and regional festivals," a company spokesperson told Mint.
Zomato (Blinkit included), Swiggy, Amazon India, Delhivery, Shadowfax, which regularly hire gig workers, had yet to respond to Mint’s queries.
Madhav Krishna, founder and chief executive officer (CEO), of blue-collar recruitment platform Vahan.ai, said that the likes of Flipkart and Amazon are strengthening their gig workforce. The platform is experiencing “a widespread shortage of workers across the board”.
Summer impact
Summer months, coinciding with school holidays and bumper sale of electronic appliances like air conditioners and coolers, are the second-biggest temporary and gig hiring season for India’s e-commerce, logistics and consumer sectors after the September-December annual festive period.
“As we move into the summer months, the early signs point to an increasingly competitive hiring environment. We anticipate the next couple of months to be extremely intense as companies continue to scale aggressively, and competition within the quick commerce ecosystem heats up further,” said Krishna.
Rival online job search firm Instahyre highlighted that while a fresh set of gig workers are available, those who have a few years of experience are tough to get. “Hiring costs have inched up, but not uniformly. There’s a premium for reliable workers, while entry-level gig rates remain under pressure. Nearly 40% still earn below ₹15,000 a month. So, the market is splitting: higher pay for quality, stagnation at the base,” said Sarbojit Mallick, co-founder of Instahyre.
The worker shortage is spreading to instant home service providers like Urban Company and Snabbit as well, with these platforms struggling to keep pace with booming demand. While workers are stretched picking up as many as 10 bookings a day, platforms say they are working on ramping up training programmes to speed up formalisation, Mint reported on Tuesday.
Interestingly, the staffing firms that look at temporary and some permanent hiring say the dropouts are also a sign that the gig workers want to move up the value chain. “The experienced workers want to manage warehouses, lead teams etc,” said Neeti Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Digital.
Staffing firms do not hire gig workers on their own payrolls, and instead supply workforce to clients at a cost which includes statutory dues, medical benefits, and incentives. Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director and CEO of CIEL HR, estimates that companies will incur about a 15% rise in costs compared to last year as they offer higher benefits to attract gig workers. “Competition to bag gig workers will get more fierce if the delivery platforms etc ink pacts with staffing firms”.