Snapdeal had a fourfold workforce expansion in one year

From 300 staff in 2013 Snapdeal has expanded its workforce by more than fourfold in one year, crossing the 5,000 mark in April this year.

The New Delhi-based company hired extensively in technology, operations and supply chain segments. About 20 per cent of its current employees are in technology operations, where it plans to add another 1,000 in about six months to work on big data, mobile services, analytics, cloud infrastructure and web technology.

According to HR head Saurabh Nigam, the main reason for Snapdeal's success is its people. And, talent acquisition is one of the areas where competition is very intense.

"These days, the competition is so fierce that positions have to be closed in three weeks as compared to a turnaround time of three months in other industries. The major challenge that the company faces is map onto diversity of profiles, right talent, handle sheer volume and pace when hiring," he said.

The next major focus of hiring is expected in logistics - fulfillment parks under 'Snapdeal Plus'. It has around 50 fulfillment centres in 20 cities and has plans to expand the number to 75 across 30 cities this year. Snapdeal is looking to get more sellers on its platform to stock products at its fulfillment centres so that deliveries can be processed quickly.

It made several senior-level hirings in the past year. As much as 60-70 per cent of these were done via social media and personal referrals, said Nigam. Snapdeal has a leadership hiring team which works directly under cofounders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, as the company looks to strengthen the management with executives who can prepare it for an initial public offerings in the next two years or so informs Nigam.

Snapdeal is considering setting up a base in the US, in its efforts to strengthen its technology arm, hire more specialists and become the first Indian consumer Internet company to establish a presence in the world's biggest startup hub.

Internally, the company is working towards developing staff policies such as Advitya, an initiative to get mothers on break to join the workforce, hire boomerangs (people who have once worked at the company) and create a strong alumni network that is informed of Snapdeal opportunities.

As the company has expanded quickly, it is relocating to a new office in Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, in July-August. It is spread across 4.5 lakh sq ft and can house more than 4,000 employees.

The platform, started in February 2010 by Bahl and Bansal as a daily deals platform named MoneySaver, currently has more than 1.5 lakh sellers, offering around 12 million products in more than 500 categories. The company is looking to add another 1 lakh sellers to the list this year. Snapdeal has eight offices in Delhi, one in Bengaluru and regional offices in Chennai, Surat, Kolkata and other smaller cities.

(Image credits: Twitter)