Press Release

2.5 million frontline jobs to be created this festive season: BetterPlace Festive Season Insights

– Demand for frontline workers slated to increase by 72% as compared to the festive season of FY23

 

–  Demand for frontline workers seems spike a quarter before the festive season quarter and attrition are at its peak during the festive season quarter

 

With the season of festivities and sales in progress, more than 2.5 million jobs are expected to be created during this time. According to BetterPlace’s Festive Season Insight, the demand for frontline workers is slated to increase by 72% in the festive season of FY24 as compared to the festive season of FY23.

 

Commenting on these insights, Pravin Agarwala, Co-founder and Group CEO at BetterPlace said, “In the last few months we are seeing a significant shift in the nature of work and workforce in India. The problem of the Indian workforce is not that of a demand-supply gap anymore, but that of a skill-demand gap. While the demand for frontline workers continues to increase, it is largely driven by the demand for semi-skilled workers. However, the supply of workers currently is not able to keep up with this demand. This gap has become all the more clear during the festive season. The festive season provides tremendous opportunity for frontline workers to increase their earning potential. However, without the right skills, they are unable to unlock this potential. Moreover, during this time we are also seeing that industries which hire semi-skilled workers pay salaries which are significantly higher than that of industries which hire unskilled workers. Sectors like IFM&IT saw salary hikes of over 30%. Hence, it has become imperative for organizations and tech companies like ours to impart these skills at scale. Through this, we can truly take advantage of the demographic dividend of the Indian workforce.”

 

Some key insights from the report include:

 

  • 5 million jobs are expected to be created in the festive months of October, November and December 2023, increasing by 72% as compared to the festive months of the previous year
    • More than 1.95 million job vacancies were created during the festive season of FY22 which dropped to 1.45 million in the festive season of FY23, a drop of 25%. However, with mega sales becoming bigger than last year, the demand seems to have spiked, slated to increase by 72% this year
    • The overall demand for workers in the festive season was higher in FY22 because of the post-pandemic boom which seemed to have muted in FY23 with spending decreasing slightly in that year. However, the rise in demand for frontline workers in the festive season of this financial year seems to hint to a normalization of spending among consumers.

 

  • While demand decreased in FY23, industry average salaries have risen marginally by 3.25% from the festive season of FY22
    • Infrastructure and Facility Management & Information Technology (IFM&IT) witnessed a 30% increase in salary during the festive season of FY23 with Retail & QSR witnessing a salary increase of 7%. This can be attributed to the increased demand for customer care services among enterprises and the consumer shift in shopping offline
    • However, salaries in e-commerce and Logistics & Mobility decreased by 8% and 16.7% respectively. This can largely be attributed to the large supply of workers in this sector during the festive season.

 

  • The quarter before the festive season witnesses a surge in demand, while attrition rates are at their lowest during this time
    • An analysis of the festive season trends of FY23 shows that the demand for frontline workers spikes a quarter before the festive season quarter with demand for workers dropping by 37% between Q2 and Q3 of FY23. This shows that enterprises meet their hiring needs well in advance in anticipation for the spike in demand during the festive season
    • Attrition during the pre-festive season is the lowest in the year whereas during the festive season, attrition is on par with the other quarters of the year. The increase in attrition rate from pre-festive to during festive season can be attributed to the fact that workers know there are higher paying opportunities and are more inclined to switch jobs.

 

  • During festive season Logistics & Mobility and Manufacturing saw the highest levels of attrition
    • Low salaries during the festive season in the Logistics & Mobility and Manufacturing sector resulted in a massive growth in attrition, growing at 107% and 100% respectively
    • However, high salaries offered during the festive season by sectors like BFSI and IFM&IT resulted in a drop in attrition in these sectors, dropping by 23% and 58% respectively

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