Hinterland hiring, gig, Al to set theme for 2026

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rest from other states. This is largely in the case of temporary staffing, where the employee works at the client's site, but will be on the payrolls of the vendor.

Over the past couple of years, staffing firms found it difficult to get workers for the peak sale period (August - December) as workers demanded higher wages for relocating to the larger cities. A similar challenge will continue in the coming year.

Gig workforce to gallop

Cost pressures will force more gig hiring across skill sets. Until now, the spurt in gig hiring would come on the back of festive season recruitment, but with the implementation of the labour codes, the benefits for gig workers are cemented.

Online food delivery, e-commerce and quick-commerce companies will now have to allocate up to 2% of their annual turnover for the welfare of gig and platform workers. In November, the labour ministry said that with the new reforms, all workers would get benefits such as retirement savings via provident fund, coverage under the Employees' State Insurance Corp., and other benefits. Therefore, there will be a larger number of the informal workforce aiming to enter the gig economy.