New Delhi, Aug 20: India’s festive season is expected to bring a strong boost to seasonal employment, with hiring projected to rise by 15-20 per cent in the second half of 2026 and generate around 2 lakh to 2.5 lakh temporary and gig opportunities, according to a report.
Pic Credit: Pexel
The hiring surge is expected to be driven by increased activity across e-commerce, quick commerce, retail, logistics, hospitality, travel and consumer services as businesses prepare for higher demand during the festive period.
A key change this year is the growing focus on planned recruitment. Companies are beginning their workforce preparations several weeks ahead of the festive peak rather than relying on last-minute hiring. This is helping businesses identify workers, complete onboarding and prepare teams for a sustained increase in orders and customer demand.
The demand for workers is also spreading beyond the country’s major metropolitan centres. Tier-II and Tier-III cities are expected to account for around 45 per cent of festive hiring, with cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Surat, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Chandigarh and Kochi likely to see stronger recruitment activity.
The expansion of e-commerce, quick commerce, organised retail and regional delivery networks is creating more employment opportunities in smaller cities and emerging urban markets.
While traditional frontline roles such as retail staff, customer service executives, delivery and logistics workers are expected to remain in strong demand, businesses are also looking for workers for newer operational positions. These include dark-store inventory management, returns and refunds, marketplace operations, fraud and transaction support, catalogue management and order processing.
The increasing use of technology is also changing the nature of festive employment. Many operational jobs now require workers to be comfortable with digital platforms, data-driven systems and real-time decision-making, along with basic communication and customer-handling skills.
Despite the positive hiring outlook, finding enough workers remains a challenge. Employers are expected to face a shortage of frontline and operational talent during the peak festive period, particularly in major cities where competition for workers is high.
The festive hiring season is therefore emerging as an important employment opportunity for people looking for short-term work while also giving businesses access to additional manpower during one of the busiest periods of the year.
The trend could have benefits beyond the festive season as well, with a portion of temporary workers expected to move into longer-term employment after gaining experience during the peak hiring period.
With consumer demand, e-commerce and organised retail continuing to expand, the upcoming festive season is expected to provide a significant temporary employment boost across both major cities and smaller urban centres.