This year has been one of agility, high resilience and optimism amidst adversity. While in 2020, the impact of the pandemic was much more severe (barring for those in the essentials space most business operations were halted/restricted), but 2021 the theme was of revival and growth, said TeamLease Services.
Some of the sectors that showcased growth were tech start-ups, e-commerce, social commerce, online grocery/essentials amongst others. The ecommerce sector grew by 8 percent in 2020 and 30 percent in 2021 and is now poised to reach $111 billion by 2024 and $200 billion by 2026.
E-commerce and the allied sectors are expected to clock $80 billion sales in 2022, an industry projected to exceed 300-350 million shoppers by 2026. All of this has provided the much needed impetus to the economy and created a multitude of employment opportunities.
Looking at the employment ecosystem, there was a 28 percent surge in employment opportunities in ecommerce and allied industries (ecommerce, social commerce, online grocery/essentials) in 2021. In fact, the September to December quarter witnessed 57 percent employers in the ecommerce and tech start-up segment keen to hire more.
Over the year, the demand was high for roles like supply chain management, warehouse roles (delivery executives, movers, pickers, packers, loaders etc.), support services, customer service management, and majority of the hiring was concentrated in regions like Ahmedabad, Chennai, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad. Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Pune, Vizag, Mumbai and Noida. Not only Tier I locations, but even Tier II to Tier IV regions have seen a surge in hiring especially as ecommerce has now gone deeper into the interiors of the country.
From a location perspective, the last quarter saw Kolkata and Gurgaon as top regions for employment in these sectors and with regard to roles, sales and office services stood out.
It’s not just jobs which have gone up, but this year, companies have also provided greater remunerations to the employees. Appraisals in these industries were at an average of 20 percent to 30 percent. Many companies also introduced unique benefits and compensations like relaxing their attendance policies, providing flexibility in schedule changes, implementing additional sick leave and exploring back-up childcare options for employees
2022 is going to be an even more promising year for e-commerce & tech start-ups which are poised to reach a CAGR of 27 percent reaching $111 billion by 2024.
Ajoy Thomas, VP & Business Head (Retail, E-Commerce, Logistics & Transportation), TeamLease Services, says, “With the aggressive vaccination drive pan-India and economic activities gaining normalcy, next year is going to be very optimistic. Hiring activities have resumed in most of the industries, even the ones which faced maximum impact last year. For ecommerce and start-ups which has been rewarding throughout, many new job opportunities will be added in 2022 and hiring will further go up by 32 percent. Major locations where hiring will be maximum are Chennai, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad. Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, and the roles for which companies will seek out skilled talent are operations, customer service, technology, machine learning, applied sciences, support functions, supply chain management, warehouse roles (delivery executives, movers, pickers, packers, loaders etc.)”
While 2022 is going to be a promising year, some reforms and financial aid is required to help the sectors grow and flourish. In the coming year, especially during the next budget, the government should recognise and support new business models in both product and service segments, aimed at improving consumer experience and providing gainful employment to regular and gig workers with improved earnings.
Additionally, much clarity is also required with regard to the current ecommerce policies. From a policy perspective, reforms should not be stifled with red tape, bureaucratic rigmarole and avoidable policy restrictions. All of this will help boost further growth in the segment.
