Overall job postings surged by 20% this festive season, says networking platform apna.co

Professional networking platform apna. co has reported a 20% year-on-year increase in job postings to 2.16 lakh this festive season across logistics & operations, e-commerce, and hospitality. This year's festive season was particularly important for businesses looking to rebound after a slowdown in consumer spending during the summer and election periods. Companies were focused on driving sales beyond last year's numbers, according to apna.co.

Additionally, the rapid expansion of the quick commerce industry contributed to this hiring momentum. Among the sectors, logistics and operations experienced the highest growth, with a 70% increase in job postings.

Retail and e-commerce followed with a 30% rise, while the restaurant and hospitality sector grew by 25%.

To meet the rising demand, logistics and mobility leaders like Rapido, Delhivery, Ekart, and Shiprocket have posted over 30,000 openings for roles like warehouse managers, logistics associates, inventory managers, and delivery drivers.

"At Apna, we typically start preparing for the festive season two months in advance. However, this year was crucial for our employer partners, who anticipated a 20–25% increase in consumer demand. To support them, we began our preparations even earlier, building a strong talent pipeline," Nirmit Parikh, founder and CEO of Apna.co, said.

The retail and e-commerce sector is also expanding, adding 18,000 roles, including category growth managers, sales associates, and customer support managers, to enhance the consumer experience.

In hospitality, 14,000 jobs have opened for positions like restaurant managers, front office staff, and administrative personnel.

Quick-service Restaurant giants like Jubilant Foodworks and food delivery platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato are also ramping up hiring to keep pace with the demand.

This hiring trend is not limited to major metro cities; tier-2 and tier-3 cities are also experiencing a significant rise in job opportunities.

Factors such as increasing urbanisation, expansion of malls and quick-service restaurants, and improved consumer spending are driving this growth.

Cities like Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Indore, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Patna, Coimbatore, and Jaipur have recorded a 25% increase in job postings.