Staffing firms see a spike in demand for quick commerce workers

livemint.com:

quick commerce companies to poach these executives from one another, signalling a likely rise in the executives' wages. Gig workers are getting poached by staffing firms, and larger companies are in turn hunting them out to bring them onto their payrolls. All this is resulting in high attrition.

Staffing industry experts such as Manu Saigal, director, general staffing, at recruitment firm Adecco India, said the demand for these executives will rise over the next few months as the churn is expected to increase. According to TeamLease Services , quick commerce employs 200,000-250,000 employees in the form of gig workers, those who are with staffing firms, and those who are permanently employed by the companies. Quick commerce caters to delivery of items in less than 15 mins through a concentrated network of dark stores, which serve as warehouses in high-order neighborhoods.

The hyper-competitive space has multiplied in recent months with new players such as Amazon, Flipkart and BigBasket joining the fray with incumbents Swiggy's Instamart, Zepto, and Zomato-backed Blinkit. As quick commerce gains traction, these companies are spreading their wings to faraway places, seeding demand for people to manage their warehouses and deliver the goods to consumers' doors. “About two-third of our hires for delivery executives is taking place in tier-II and tier-III cities," said Lohit Bhatia, president of workforce management at business services provider Quess Corp.