E-commerce to expand operations through temporary staffing

NEW DELHI: The Indian Staffing Federation estimates that temporary staffing in e commerce has grown exponentially over the past one year. Data collected from five members of the Indian Staffing Federation including firms like TeamLease reveals that the number of temporary staffers for e commerce have risen from 1252 in 2011 to 2343 this year.

"It is not easy to source talent for this sector and attrition is also quite high. Which explains the demand for temporary talent, particularly for profiles like sales professionals and delivery boys," says Rituparna Chakraborty, VP, Indian Staffing Federation and co-founder Teamlease.

Asim Handa, CEO of Gi Group feels e commerce companies are increasingly moving towards staffing to fuel their growth and expand the spread of operations. "Most of the staffing requirements are for delivery staff as working professionals are ordering at the click of a mouse.

By having temporary staff, companies are able to hire in the least possible lead time and can enjoy the flexibility in the usage of these services when the need for extra staff subdues," he says and adds:

"Mostly the requirement increases around the festive season, however now with round the clock special offers on purchases, the need has almost become perennial."

Staffing firm Kelly Services has witnessed an increase in e commerce temp staffing by about 30% over the past year. "The openings are mostly at entry level positions for profiles like customer support, content writers and documentation," says Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services.