With India’s festival calendar kicking off earlier and stretching deeper into Tier 2 and 3 cities, companies aren’t waiting for the last-minute crunch. Retailers, e-commerce platforms, and logistics providers have already started ramping up gig and temporary hiring, aiming at riding the festive wave with an expanded and ready workforce, ahead of Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, and mega-sale events.
Gig and temporary hiring is estimated to increase by 15-30 percent this year as businesses chase faster fulfilment, wider reach, and better customer experience across metros and Tier 2 and 3 cities, according to data from several staffing firms Moneycontrol spoke to.
India’s festive calendar typically begins in August with Raksha Bandhan and runs through Diwali into the winter wedding season. This year, however, the hiring cycle is starting earlier to align with extended sales windows, a sharper demand curve, and a broader geographic spread — especially into Tier 2 and 3 cities.
Adecco India projects over 2.16 lakh seasonal jobs to be created this year, reflecting a 15-20 percent increase in gig and temporary employment. The surge is driven by early hiring moves from companies seeking operational readiness for an extended festive calendar — from Raksha Bandhan and Diwali to flash-sale events and the wedding season.
"This year’s festive season is seeing a sharper and more structured demand curve, and we have proactively prepared to meet it well in advance," said Deepesh Gupta, Director and Head of General Staffing at Adecco India.
Early bird gets the gig
Unlike earlier years when the focus was simply on filling headcount, companies are now prioritising deployment speed and workforce readiness. “Employers today are equally focused on deployment speed, workforce readiness, and regional agility,” said Gupta.
Adecco has already seen a 19 percent rise in festive demand, with deployment timelines shrinking to 17 days, thanks to app-based onboarding and mobile screening.
The shift in urgency is being echoed across the industry. Hiring platforms like TeamLease expect gig roles to increase by as much as 30 percent.
“Employers are expected to begin their festive hiring cycles earlier than in previous years, with several planning to initiate workforce onboarding by August in view of the surge in consumer demand,” said Kartik Narayan, CEO, Staffing, at TeamLease Services. In high-volume cities, sourcing to deployment is now happening in under 48 hours.
E-commerce, retail, logistics and quick commerce are driving most of this demand, while sectors like travel and hospitality are also catching up with a 20–25 percent spike in hiring. According to TeamLease and NLB Services, logistics and retail alone account for over 60 percent of gig hiring volume.
Going wide – and going long
While the metro markets remain critical, hiring in Tier 2 and 3 cities is picking up fast. Adecco noted a 42 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in demand from cities like Lucknow, Jaipur, Coimbatore and Mysuru — driven by better gig awareness and digital onboarding infrastructure.
“Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are becoming a much more integral part of festive hiring conversations,” added Sachin Alug, CEO of NLB Services. “There’s a growing talent pool in these regions, driven by improved digital access, gig awareness, and interest in flexible income opportunities.”
Worker profile is evolving too. Seasonal hiring is being powered by students, first-time jobseekers and women, with participation from the latter now touching 28 percent, according to TeamLease. Digital fluency and multilingual skills are increasingly prerequisites — even for frontline roles like in-store sales, delivery, or credit card promotions.
And though these roles are temporary on paper, many companies are looking at seasonal workers as long-term talent bets. “Seasonal hiring is no longer a stop-gap but a strategic workforce layer,” said Gupta. Nearly one in four candidates from previous seasons were absorbed into longer-term roles, he noted — a trend echoed by TeamLease and NLB Services. He says structured assessments and training now accompany most deployments.
To curb attrition, employers are offering surge incentives, performance bonuses and location-based perks. “Compensation models are more structured and performance-linked this year,” said Alug. “These measures have led to better retention among returning workers.”
With a longer festive runway and rising demand from smaller cities, companies aren’t just staffing up – they’re starting early, thinking local, and playing for the long haul.
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