Staff crunch in retail, logistics as festive season nears

Retailers and logistics service providers are struggling to strike a balance between hiring contract workers to maximize festive season sales and reducing costs, amid efforts to boost last-mile connectivity after two quarters of muted sales

- Devina Sengupta & Suneera Tandon

While firms are rolling out marginal hikes for their sales teams, recruiters said they are seeking to hire contract workers at minimum wages. Therefore, getting manpower across states is becoming a challenge, they added.

"The first two quarters were challenging due to unseasonal rainfall. Consumer electronic firms are now asking for additional budget from the finance teams to hire sales workforce for the festivities," Kartik Narayan, chief executive-staffing, TeamLease Services, said.

Many companies are holding back quarterly bonus payments of sales executives for September-November, planning to pay only in December, said industry insider.