Gig workers face hard reset after best-ever festive season

After record seasonal hiring during the festival period, gig workers stare an unusually lean period thisnew year.

- SowmyaRamasubramanian & Devina Sengupta

By the end of December, short-term contracts of thousands of gig and temporary workers hired by e-commerce, logistics, and consumer goods companiesto handle the festive season demand will end. They will find themselves without jobs, struggling tosecure their next opportunity.

Hiring agencies predict that from January onward, the market will see an unusually large pool of gig talent available for recruitment. Many may haveto accept lower pay or less favourable terms to stay employed.

“Barely 5-10% ofthe temporary staffing will get absorbed in the same company,” said Neeti Sharma, chief executive officer of staffing and talent solutions firm TeamLease Digital. “The gig workers move across platforms and after the festive season, the remuneration will see a 15-20% drop for them.”

According to TeamLease’s data, 3-7% of such temporary and gig workerswereabsorbed byclient firmslast year.

Temporary workers are on the staffing vendor's payroll and deployed at the client company, with their contractstypically lasting 3to Il months. Gig workers are often hired for shifts that are limited to a few hoursa day.

The number ofpeopleseeking jobs after the peak hiring periodis expected to be higher this yearas agencies recruited about 20% more gig and temporary workersin 2025 than in the previous year. The intake had spiked asretailersand consumer brands anticipated a surge indemandaftera shorter summer that caused aninventory pileup of seasonal white goods.