Major retailers step up contract hiring

A TeamLease report suggests that the intent to hire in the sector has gone up

Retailers in India have stepped up hiring this year, reversing an earlier trend of declining jobs in the sector. The data, however, suggests that hiring in the sector is now leaning heavily towards contractual roles as opposed to putting people on payrolls.

While retail sector jobs saw a decline in 2020-21 due to layoffs and hiring freezes amid dwindling sales and Covid-19 lockdowns, a report from TeamLease suggests that the intent to hire in the sector has gone up.

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Compared to the April to June quarter, the overall intent to hire in India in the July to September quarter is projected to rise by 7 per cent quarter-on-quarter. In the retail sector (essentials), an 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth is projected, with the intent to hire rising from 67 per cent in the April to June quarter to 75 per cent in the July to September quarter.

However, the numbers don't tell the full story. Many of the new retail sector jobs are contractual in nature, according to a Business Standard report.

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To illustrate, Titan Company registered a 45 per cent increase in contractual hiring in 2021-22 (FY22), while it registered a meagre 0.4 per cent rise in permanent staff. Similarly, Bata India saw its contractual workforce grow by 14.58 per cent from FY21 to FY22, while registering a 2.2 per cent decline in its permanent headcount in the same period. Raymond followed a similar pattern, registering an 11.3 per cent increase in its contractual workforce and a 3.6 per cent decline in its permanent headcount in FY22.

Avenue Supermart was an exception to the above trend and recorded a 11.2 per cent rise in permanent staff and 10.6 per cent increase in its contractual workforce, according to the BS report. While data on contractual and permanent staff for Reliance Retail is not available, the company added 1.5 lakh people to its workforce in the previous financial year, taking its total headcount to 3.61 lakh.

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The increase in retail-sector hiring is driven not only by a return to relative normalcy after two pandemic years but also by an increase in retail real estate in the country.

The nation's mall space is rising this year, according to BS, which cited a report by Anarock. New malls with nearly 10.15 million square feet (msf), which is 86 per cent more than what was created in 2021, will come up in tier I, II, and III cities this year, says Anarock. Another 7.25 msf is expected in 2023. This promises continued job growth in the retail sector.