As startups combat layoffs and lawsuits, Flipkart is aiming to buck the trend in FY18 with fresh hiring, according to a report in The Financial Express. The e-commerce unicorn is planning to hire more than 1,200 people for its engineering and technology teams.
The company aims to increase hiring by 20-30 percent in 2017-2018, said Chief Operating Officer Nitin Seth.
Flipkart, which is in a battle for the top spot with Amazon, is looking to increase its headcount in three areas.
Firstly, the e-tailer plans to expand into new categories such as groceries, furniture and large appliances. Second, it wants to expand its supply chain, and, third, it wants more hands in its technology and engineering teams.
The company currently employs 8,000 people on a permanent basis, while another 20,000 work on contract. The new hirings planned will be on permanent basis.
The company wants to expand to another 1,000 pin codes in the country, primarily in the North-East region, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. Flipkart will also try to improve its reach in the tier-2 and tier-3 cities and also increase its logistics arm, Ekart's share in delivery assignments. Ekart handles 85 percent of Flipkart's orders.
The company currently delivers to 6,000 of the country's 19,000 PIN codes and wants to reduce its dependence on third party logistics providers.
In the engineering department, it is looking to improve the mobile experience and its enhance cloud infrastructure.
Flipkart is expected to close a fresh round of funding worth USD 1 billion in the next four to five weeks with participation from eBay and Tencent.
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