War queers pitch for gig players this IPL season

New Delhi: Restaurants and food delivery platforms that typically step up hiring of temporary workers during the Indian Premier League season are taking a cautious approach this time, according to staffing firms and job portals.

Disruptions in LPG supply amid the West Asia war have led restaurants and cloud kitchens to limit menus, reduce working hours and a few to even shut operations. The business of food delivery platforms depends entirely on restaurants and cloud kitchens being operational. These supply-side constraints mean that demand from cricket fans who skip cooking to watch the IPL is unlikely to be fully met, said industry experts. This situation is reshaping hiring patterns. While gig worker onboarding at food delivery companies and restaurants has slowed, quick commerce platforms continue to hire aggressively, they said.

Hiring is "more measured this year", with steady demand in delivery and quick commerce roles but a cautious approach in kitchen and service hiring due to LPG-related disruptions, said Balasubramanian A, senior vice-president at TeamLease Services, whose operations include supply of gig workers. "Overall hiring is more selective rather than broad-based this season," he said. Some demand is shifting towards quick commerce as consumers opt for ready-to-eat items during match hours.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, chief executive at CIEL HR, said there is a "marginal softening in incremental hiring"-an around 10% dip compared with a typical IPL season. He blamed limited supply capacity, not lack of demand, for this situation. Food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy and restaurant operators that ET contacted did not respond to requests for comment.

The IPL 2026 season begins Saturday, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad.

RP Yadav, chairman at Genius HR Tech, said gig worker demand was 20-25% higher in the run up to the IPL compared with last season, but mostly for quick commerce roles. Hiring is becoming more selective as many kitchens are operating at reduced capacity, cutting menus, or limiting operating hours, he said.

Shift in Workforce Demand

This has led to a visible shift in workforce demand. While delivery, warehouse and customer-facing roles continue to see traction, back-end kitchen hiring is relatively muted this year, in contrast to previous IPL seasons where both segments expanded in tandem, he said.

Data from jobs platform Apna.co underline this trend. While job postings in delivery and logistics grew sharply—up about 65% between February 2025 and February 2026—the typical IPL-linked surge in March has weakened. Delivery postings fell 10.2% month-on-month this March, compared with a 65.7% rise in the same period last year.

A similar pattern is visible in hospitality roles. Restaurant and hospitality postings declined 8.1% in March 2026 versus a 20.5% increase in March 2025, with cook and chef roles dropping by 21%, suggesting kitchens are not ramping up capacity as aggressively this season.

“The Feb-March ramp up, which typically signals the IPL-driven surge, is showing moderation in 2026 compared to 2025, likely influenced by supply-side disruptions,” said Kartik Narayan, chief executive, jobs marketplace, at Apna.co, pointing to LPG shortage due to the West Asia conflict.