Ahead of festive sale, Flipkart adds 30,000 jobs in supply chain, logistics

E-commerce major Flipkart Monday said it has added 30,000 jobs in its supply chain and logistics operations, ahead of the festive sale where the Walmart-backed company will compete head-on against rival, Amazon.

Flipkart, which will hold the fifth edition of its Big Billion Days (BBD) sale from October 10-14, also expects its seller partners to have added over five lakh indirect jobs at their locations.

"...ensuring that our customers have a seamless shopping experience, we want the economy too, 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," Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said.

The seasonal hiring by Flipkart is spread across the entire supply chain -- from warehouses, to mother hubs, and delivery hubs. The additional indirect jobs created at seller locations are in packaging and warehouse management.

E-tailers usually hire thousands of temporary workers in delivery and support roles to handle the high volume of orders during the festive sale.

Amazon India said it has created over 50,000 seasonal positions across its network of fulfilment centres in the country this year ahead to meet the increased demand during the festive season.

About 20 million people are expected to shop on various e-commerce platforms during the festive sale next month, translating into sales of around USD 3 billion for players like Amazon and Flipkart, according to a report by research firm RedSeer.

Like in offline retail, e-commerce companies see a significant jump in sales during Dussehra and Diwali. The September-November period typically generates a majority of the annual sales of these companies, which prepare months in advance for the sale event.

Snapdeal will hold its 'Mega Diwali Sale' from October 10-14, while ShopClues' sale is slated between October 10-November 7.

Flipkart said all the hired personnel have undergone training in supply chain process for their respective function, and are trained to handle hand-held devices, PoS machines, scanners, various and mobile applications.

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

The company will also leverage its network of "flexible infrastructure" that has been built specifically to cater to the expected "record demand" from customers. It has added total of 16 "flex" fulfilment centres and 15 mother hubs to its supply chain infrastructure, while the capacity at existing facilities has also been expanded.