Flipkart strengthens supply chain with 23,000 new hires

Under the terms of the agreement, Cleartrip operations will be acquired by Flipkart.

Walmart-owned ecommerce firm Flipkart has hired 23,000 people in various capacities across its supply chain division since March, the company said on May 25.

"The growing demand for e-commerce services across the country as people continue to remain indoors to fight the virus has necessitated a ramp-up of our supply chain, creating thousands of employment opportunities. All new hires will be covered with our healthcare and wellness initiatives to ensure their safety during these testing times,” said Hemant Badri, Senior Vice-President, Supply Chain, Flipkart.

The development comes at a time when states across the country have banned ecommerce players from delivering non-essential goods to consumers as restrictions have been put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Flipkart, which gets over 90 percent of its orders in the non-essential category, has been ramping up its facilities to cater to the rise in the demand for online groceries as more people are forced indoors by a furious second COVID wave.

It plans to expand its fulfillment centres capacity for grocery by more than 8 lakh square feet across Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and other cities during this quarter, the company has said.

To create awareness about safety during COVID, Flipkart is also offering training programmes to its direct hires in the supply chain through a mix of classroom and digital training.

Started in 2007, Flipkart claims to have a registered customer base of over 300 million, offering over 150 million products across 80 categories.

Grocery platforms such as BigBasket and Grofers, too, have stepped up hiring in the supply-chain segment.

While BigBasket hired at least 5,300 people mostly across its warehouse and delivery teams since February, rival Grofers claims to have added over 2,000 since the beginning of the year.