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As India gears up for its vibrant festive season, a notable surge in <keyword id="23052492" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="seasonal-hiring" source="keywords">seasonal hiring</keyword> is taking place across various industries, with gig roles leading the charge. According to data from job site Indeed, seasonal hiring is projected to rise by 20% this year compared to last, driven primarily by <keyword id="19990771" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce" source="keywords">e-commerce</keyword>, logistics, and retail sectors, as companies prepare for heightened consumer demand. Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales at Indeed India, emphasised, "The festive season is a crucial period for businesses across India, and we're seeing a significant uptick in hiring for seasonal roles as companies prepare to meet heightened consumer demand." <h3 style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">What is gig work?</h3>Gig work refers to flexible, short-term, or freelance employment often facilitated by digital platforms. Unlike traditional full-time jobs, gig workers are hired on a project basis, allowing them to work for multiple employers or companies as needed. These roles are popular in industries like food delivery, transportation, and logistics. During India's <keyword id="21015356" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festival-season" source="keywords">festival season</keyword>, when businesses experience a spike in demand, gig workers play an essential role in ensuring smooth operations across sectors like retail and e-commerce. <h3>Gig labour during festival season</h3>The festive season in India, spanning from September to December, is one of the busiest times of the year for businesses. As a result, companies ramp up hiring to cope with increased sales and customer demand. Seasonal roles in delivery, logistics, warehouse operations, and customer support see the highest demand, as businesses focus on timely deliveries, inventory management, and customer satisfaction. Indeed's data reveals that the top gig roles witnessing a rise in hiring this season include <keyword id="21462485" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="delivery-executives" source="keywords">delivery executives</keyword>, <keyword id="22103182" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="warehouse-workers" source="keywords">warehouse workers</keyword>, <keyword id="23052493" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="logistics-coordinators" source="keywords">logistics coordinators</keyword>, <keyword id="23052494" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="in-store-sales-executives" source="keywords">in-store sales executives</keyword>, and customer care executives. While major cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi see a steady increase in demand for gig workers (18-20%), tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Nagpur, Jaipur, and Vadodara are emerging as key contributors, witnessing a hiring surge of 22-25%. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112999246" title="As fast as some jobs are growing, others are losing steam" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h3><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> major contributor</h3>One of the standout examples this festive season is Meesho, a leading e-commerce marketplace in India. According to sources, the platform has enabled around 8.5 lakh seasonal job opportunities, representing a 70% increase from last year. Of these, 5 lakh jobs were created within Meesho's seller network, while another 3.5 lakh jobs emerged in the logistics sector. Sourabh Pandey, CXO of Fulfilment and Experience at Meesho, shared, "This festive season, we are particularly thrilled to have enabled 8.5 lakh seasonal jobs, especially in tier-3 and beyond cities. Empowering SMBs, local manufacturers, and logistics providers to scale their business is resulting in meaningful economic opportunities that are driving financial inclusion in these regions." Meesho has reportedly also partnered with prominent third-party logistics providers such as Delhivery, Ecom Express, and Shadowfax to meet the increased demands of the festive season. These collaborations have not only expanded logistics capacity but also helped generate gig opportunities in first-mile, middle-mile, and delivery associate roles. Abhishek Bansal, CEO &amp; Co-founder of Shadowfax, commented, "We are particularly excited to nearly double our capacity across several value-added services, such as Reverse Quality Check-Based Pickups and Hand-to-Hand Doorstep Exchange. These efforts ensure smooth deliveries and returns during the festive rush." <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112720685" title="If you want to find a job, it&amp;#39;s time to specialize" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h3 style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:14.0pt;margin-bottom:4.0pt;">The future of gig work in India</h3>The rapid rise in <keyword id="23052491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gig-hiring" source="keywords">gig hiring</keyword> reflects the evolving needs of today's consumers, particularly during high-demand periods like the festive season. The e-commerce industry, which saw a 35% rise in demand for seasonal workers, is expected to continue driving this trend, with logistics and retail sectors close behind. "The industries that are growing — e-commerce, logistics, quick commerce — are doing so because they're aligned with the needs and behaviours of today's consumers,” Sashi Kumar explains. “This is where the future of India's <keyword id="19916569" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="job-market" source="keywords">job market</keyword> could be heading". With a flurry of companies contributing significantly to job creation, particularly in tier-3 and tier-4 cities, gig work is becoming a vital source of employment across the country. As India's job market evolves, gig work is likely to play an even larger role in shaping the future of work, offering flexibility and economic opportunity to millions of workers. (With inputs from agencies)

E-commerce is expected to help seasonal hiring for gig roles surge by 20% this festival season: reports

Homegrown social commerce platform <keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> on Monday announced a first-of-its-kind Boundaryless Workplace Model. Through this model, the firm is giving its employees the power to choose to work from home, office or any location of their choice. With a focus on seamless employee experience, Meesho will enable its workforce with real-time and virtual collaboration tools. "Driven by our mantra to build a people-centric workplace, Meesho has always ensured employees are at the core of everything we do. We have been championing many industry-first initiatives that have redefined conventional workplace norms and this new policy is a step in that direction," Ashish Kumar Singh, Chief Human Resources Officer, Meesho said. Providing opportunities for teams to even meet and collaborate in-person, the company is introducing initiatives like trips to attend quarterly summits and an annual workation in locations like Goa. To support working parents, Meesho will sponsor day care facilities for employees with children below 6 years of age. This can also be availed during official travels to Meesho's head office in Bangalore. According to a recent Sensor Tower report, the homegrown social commerce platform also became the only Indian company and e-commerce platform to feature among the top 10 most downloaded non-gaming apps across the world in October 2021. With new additions such as sports and fitness, pet supplies, automotive accessories among others, Meesho has now grown its roster to over 700 product categories. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/future-groups-kishore-biyani-mohandas-pai-and-68-others-invest-in-former-twitter-india-heads-latest-startup/articleshow/89403045.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Mohandas Pai and 68 others invest in former Twitter India head’s latest startup</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/macquarie-slashes-paytms-target-price-to-700-goldman-sachs-upgrades-it/articleshow/89401105.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Macquarie slashes Paytm’s target price to ₹700, Goldman Sachs upgrades it</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-steels-stock-on-a-gaining-spree-led-by-doubling-profits-huge-debt-reduction-and-hopes-from-the-union-budget/articleshow/89398818.cms">Tata Steel is on a gaining spree. Thanks to doubling profits, huge debt reduction, and hopes from the union budget</a>

Meesho allows employees to permanently work from anywhere

<ul><li><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> is the new kid on the block that has emerged as a challenger to <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> with 120 mn users</li><li>Aims to bring 100 mn small sellers across India online</li><li>The newly minted unicorn is looking at going public in less than two years after it turns profitable.</li></ul>Shaan Ansari is a 19-year old entrepreneur who lives in the historic city of Panipat, 100 kms north of Delhi, and he may never qualify for any list celebrating under-20 entrepreneurs, but his story is no less inspiring than Ranveer Singh’s character in Gully Boy. The pandemic put his father out of work and Ansari out of school back in 2020. When crisis struck, Ansari went scouting for opportunities online that would require zero investment and he found it in Meesho, a social commerce platform that is designed to help solo entrepreneurs and small businesses sell their wares to a wider audience. Ansari sourced bath mats and door mats made locally and started selling them on Meesho. When his suppliers could not meet the demand, Ansari borrowed money to start his own factory. Today he manufactures these mats from a rented factory, employs 50 people and clocks revenues of ₹30 lakh a month. It is transformational stories like Ansari’s that keep Meesho’’s co-founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey and his team going. Recalling his trip to Panipat, Aatrey, says, “The neighbourhood that Ansari lives in is a really humble one and his home actually doubles up as a warehouse. When I visited him, his staff and family offered dry fruits with chai. Ansari kept telling us how his family’s fortunes have changed after he discovered Meesho. As a team we travel every quarter to listen to sellers like Ansari on our platform and are now attempting to solve some of their other financial needs so that they don’t have to go to money lenders for working capital needs.” <div type="image" title="Meesho_1 (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93702892" hostid="261"></div> 100 million sellers to reach a billion buyers Aatrey’s dream is to get a million local businesses online so that they expand their markets by selling wares across India, irrespective of where they are located. In the last two years, this new kid on the block has emerged as a challenger to the Big Boys of e-commerce. Meesho - which is a short code for ‘my shop’ - has gotten bigger after the pandemic with 120 million monthly active users (MAUs) in a short span of time. Flipkart and Amazon have 200 million registered users each. Meesho’s target is to have 100 million sellers on its platform and sell to a billion buyers. Meesho was born on the premise that for online commerce to genuinely offer value, local retailers had to go online. Unorganized retail accounts for 90% of India’s spends. But when Aatrey and his co-founder Sanjeev Bamwal discovered that the sellers were not coming online because the buyers were not all shopping online. The pandemic has enabled Meesho to bring a lot more local businesses online as it was a matter of their survival. Challenging Amazon and Flipkart In the early days, Meesho’s sales were driven by 15 million women resellers, who bought products from the platform and sold it through WhatsApp and Facebook groups. From being a social commerce platform driven by re-sellers, it today has a share of nearly 30% in total daily online deliveries. Of the 9 million e-commerce orders processed daily, Meesho accounts for 2.7 million, while the two biggies account for 5 million. Clearly, Meesho is the challenger that nobody expected would catch up with Amazon and Flipkart. Another interesting statistic says that of the 70 million shoppers online, only 10 million are digital natives. It is a no-brainer then that India’s small businesses can provide the network effect to any online commerce platform that chooses to target this segment. Meesho waded into this space back in 2015, but found it tough to convince small entrepreneurs to come online because their customers were not online either. Language barriers and quality of internet speeds were only a few reasons why sellers were not online. Even when they brought sellers online, their buyers were still not online nor was Meesho’s app on too many smartphones. This changed after the pandemic but before that it was Meesho’s army of 15 million women resellers that drove its gross merchandise value up until 2020. Meesho is called a social commerce channel because it has been built by women resellers who found a vocation and economic independence by reselling goods purchased from the platform on WhatsApp and Facebook groups. Between 2017 and 2020, 100% sales were happening through resellers. The share of these women resellers is now down to 20% as consumers have now started downloading the app. Meesho’s monthly average users stand at 120 million and 35 million users transact on the app every month. On an average, 110 million Indian shoppers bought on Meesho last year. Not surprising that investors have also queued up to invest in the company. After raising seed capital of $300,000 from angel investors in March 2016, Meesho is valued at $4.9 bn after its latest round of capital raise of $570 mn in September 2021. Its list of marquee investors include Soft Bank Vision Fund 2, Prosus, Fidelity Management and Research, Yuri Milner’s DST Partners, Sequoia, SAIF Partners and Y Combinator among others. Sellers turn brand ambassadors <div type="image" title="Meesho_2 (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93702936" hostid="261"></div> Currently, there are six lakh sellers like Ansari on Meesho and the start-up wants to take this to one million. This goal may be work-in-progress, but every week employees join the Meesho Sabha, a meeting where examples like Ansari are discussed at length so that the team does not take its eyes off the goal post. Even though Meesho continues with its outreach programme to help sellers, existing sellers have now become brand ambassadors who are helping others get online. The platform offers peer-to-peer learning in several languages for those who want to get started. Says Dhiresh Bansal, chief financial officer of Meesho, “We still do our outreach programmes but a lot of people are now coming to our platform, as they need to diversify by targeting newer markets. Also the younger generation is more progressive and are taking their family businesses online.” After its success in the last two years, Meesho’s working hard to resolve several issues of sellers on its platform. Most of these sellers have seen a sharp rise in demand for their products after going online and the need for working capital requirement has gone up sharply. Lucknow-based Suman Agrawal used to sell women’s fashion clothing at her boutique but has shut it down after her brand Rudraksh saw sales boom on Meesho. She currently manages 22,000 orders a month. There are several sellers in India who cannot go online because they don’t have the requisite GST number. Aatrey has been a votary of their cause for a while. In June this year, the GST Council cleared a proposal that will no longer require sellers on e-commerce platforms to have a GST registration, if their turnover is less than ₹40 lakh and ₹20 lakh for goods and services respectively. This rule will come into effect from January 2023. Aatrey believes that this will be a game changer for millions of small sellers across India. While the company is not looking to raise capital immediately, it has plans to turn profitable and then hit the markets in a couple of years. The e-commerce player is looking at tightening its belt on costs now that it has attained scale. If it has to turn profitable in under 2 years then Meesho will have to cut back on cashburn and conserve capital. Aatrey says, “This festive season will give us an indication if there is any slowdown. We have not seen that so far, so it will be something that we will learn from.” <div type="image" title="Meesho_3 (1) (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93703012" hostid="261"></div> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sensex-slips-517-points-goes-below-the-60000-mark/articleshow/93701486.cms">Sensex slips 517 points, goes below the 60,000-mark</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/not-just-ev-makers-there-are-many-more-stocks-that-can-gain-from-ev-play/articleshow/93696654.cms">Not just EV makers, there are many more stocks that can gain from EV play</a>

Meet India’s Real Gully Boy: Vidit Aatrey of Meesho is taking the entrepreneurial dream deep inside Bharat

<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s first social commerce platform has turned 1.23 lakh small business owners into lakhpatis. </li><li><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> has overtaken <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> in terms of user penetration in tier 2 to tier 4 cities of India. </li><li>Compressed app size, explainer videos on doing business, monthly visits to households of small businessmen is how Meesho is capturing India’s rural heartland. </li></ul>At 13 years of age, <keyword id="15066970" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="divyanjali-mishra" source="Orion">Divyanjali Mishra</keyword> is a year short of the legal age to work in India but the entrepreneurial bug bit this teen after she saw her brother-in-law become successful online. She too followed the same path to make and sell t-shirts, wallets and belts on Meesho – an enterprise that made her a <keyword id="23267" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="crorepati" source="Orion">crorepati</keyword> before she turned 18. Her businesses HK Traders and Parthasarathi Enterprises have an annual turnover of ₹24 crore, processing 3,000-4,000 orders per day that she receives from Meesho. Her business now employs over 30 women – all under the age of 23 and coming from economically weaker backgrounds. <div type="image" title="Divyanjali Mishra" msid="94399483" hostid="261" sizebytes="34420"></div> Light and fast Social commerce app Meesho has given wings to many such young, restless, ambitious and talented entrepreneurs across the country – at least 8,000 sellers on Meesho have turned crorepatis since January 2021. As many as 1.23 lakh small business owners have turned into lakhpatis on Meesho. With over 127 million users in August 2022 alone, what is driving this unicorn's customer and seller growth? One trait that’s common between Meesho and its sellers is speed. "Our vision is to democratise internet e-commerce. When the cost of trying out a business online is massively reduced and onboarding happens within 12 hours, more sellers come onboard," said <keyword id="1893518" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="megha-agarwal" source="Orion">Megha Agarwal</keyword>, CXO, user growth at Meesho, in an interview with Business Insider India. It also has features unique to small businesses and new enterprises – like the 7-day payment feature. When these sellers are paid faster, they can re-invest faster and hence chase growth. It also helps cover some risks with the ‘Zero penalty’ feature, where sellers are not penalised for self or auto cancellation of orders, Meesho said. Meesho's app is also the lightest e-commerce app in India at 13.6 MB. Flipkart’s app takes up 18 MB of space while Amazon requires 59 MB. "Our customers are mostly from tier 2, tier 3 and tier 4 cities of India. We are aware that customers don't always have smartphones with high data storage. Thus we made our app very light. To make the process of onboarding easier, we are now providing the app in nine vernacular languages," said Agarwal. Meesho, which is backed by Facebook and SoftBank, currently has 360 million downloads – 175 million of these in the last year alone. How does Meesho churn out entrepreneurs from rural India? The social e-commerce team at Meesho conducts monthly travel sessions with the team to the hometowns of their businessmen and businesswomen. It also provides monetary initial boost to sellers who are coming onboard for the first time. “Additionally, we provide free ad credits worth ₹1,200 to all new suppliers who create 7 live catalogues milestones within the first two weeks of their journey,” said Meesho. To promote ease of doing business, the unicorn has created two activation teams dedicated to understanding how to make it easy for sellers who are uneducated. "To improve comprehension and reduce friction, we have created two activation teams from both the seller and user side. Over 20 plus videos exist to educate about sales online. Even the stories we pick to celebrate are meant to be encouraging for small business owners, making us friendly and approachable, " said Agarwal. Over 35% of the seller base from tier 4 regions The social e-commerce app is trying to reach the rural heartland of India. Over 35% of the Meesho seller base hailed from tier 4 regions. In June 2022 alone, there were 23,000 seller registrations – the highest ever from tier 4 cities. Mandi in Himachal Pradesh; Muzaffarnagar and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh; Buhana, Paota, and Kaman in Rajasthan are popular tier 4 business spots for Meesho. Nearly 41% of all Meesho sellers hail from tier 2+ regions such as Hisar, Panipat and Tiruppur, among others. According to a Bernstein report 2022, the sweet spot for e-commerce growth in India is from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Meesho is outperforming Amazon and Flipkart when it comes to these cities, it reported. In spite of having 700,000 sellers on its platform, Amazon is yet to gain ground in a very important category in India — tier 2 and tier 3 markets. One of India's fastest e-commerce companies, Meesho is looking forward to expanding its portfolio to 100 million sellers with the upcoming festivities. The <keyword id="15066971" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho-blockbuster-sale" source="Orion">Meesho blockbuster sale</keyword> beginning from 23rd September will offer products at prices that are 15% lower than that offered by the big e-commerce platforms, claims the company. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/doodlage-and-ecokaari-startups-are-converting-waste-into-bags-and-clothes/articleshow/94388327.cms">Fashion forward: These startups are converting waste into bags and clothes</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/most-indians-to-spend-more-than-10000-on-shopping-in-the-upcoming-festive-season-says-report/articleshow/94389278.cms">Most Indians to spend more than ₹10,000 on shopping in the upcoming festive season, says report</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/whatsapp-pay-india-head-mahatme-quits-likely-to-return-to-amazon-pay/articleshow/94378345.cms">WhatsApp Pay India head Mahatme quits, likely to return to Amazon Pay</a>

Online e-commerce player Meesho is the new crorepati factory

<ul><li>Home-grown platform Meesho is the latest start-up to join the unicorn club after raising $300 million from Softbank Vision Fund 2.</li><li>Founded in 2015, Meesho launched its first TVC in 2020 that aimed to celebrate financial independence of Indian women. It is now planning to go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations to expand its reseller user base.</li><li>Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO, Meesho walks us through the company’s journey from scratch, marketing goals for the year and shares his vision.</li></ul>It was in 2015 that Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho decided to quit InMobi and start his own business. He and his partner Sanjeev Barnwal, Founder and CTO of Meesho came up with an idea to build a platform to help micro and small businesses shift online and leverage the power of digital technologies. So, as social commerce was struggling to make inroads in India, Meesho led the way and revolutionized the industry. “Social commerce was already a popular concept at that time but the challenges such as limited access to supply, lack of logistics/ payment options, customer friendly policies etc, were also on the rise,” shared Aatrey. Months went into experimenting with the idea, researching the market and getting the logistics right. They juggled between ideas until they perfected the core business proposition. Cut to today, Meesho has just raised $300 million in a new round of funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 on April 02. The startup has already joined the unicorn club. As per media reports, the new Series E round gives the five-year-old Bangalore-based company a valuation of $2.1 billion, up from about $600 million-$700 million in the 2019 Series D investment. The social commerce platform claims to have over 13 million entrepreneurs, a majority of whom are women. It has helped them start their own online businesses with zero investment, bringing the benefits of e-commerce to over 45 million customers across the country. Sharing why Aatrey started Meesho, he said, “‘Meesho’ stands for ‘meri shop’ or apni dukaan. Almost 9 out of every 10 individuals in India have a dream of starting his/her small business. Given the increasing number of self-employed, small business owners, gig workers in India it is no surprise that Indians have an enterprising mind. However, starting a business requires a lot of capital. India is not such a rich country. Most people do not have access to capital. These people who never had the opportunity to start a store came onto our platform and became entrepreneurs for the first time. One can come here, start his/her shop on WhatsApp, access anything from our supplier marketplace, and as per consumer orders, purchase is made from the marketplace.” Meesho primarily connects sellers with customers through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. It supervises logistics, online payment and provides real-time updates. Till date, the company has delivered orders from 100K+ registered suppliers to over 26,000 pin codes in more than 4,800 cities, helping generate over Rs 500 crore in income for entrepreneurs and serving customers in more than 4,500 Tier 2+ cities -- bringing e-commerce to Bharat. As per a recent report by Deloitte, India’s e-commerce is expected to grow from $24 billion in 2017 to $84 billion in 2021. Considering that India has about 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) currently, Meesho is just getting started. Aatrey said, “We have ~9M women entrepreneurs and India is roughly going to have more than 250M women who will be online by 2025. Given this understanding, we are just scratching the surfaces of enabling women to start their own business. With the growth that we have seen over the last year, we want to bring our value proposition to many aspiring women, and we see a lot of value in further communicating our value proposition. That said, we will consistently be communicating how Meesho can empower and enable women entrepreneurs in starting their home businesses.” According to Aatrey, the social reselling market in India is estimated to be $6-7 billion (GMV) in size as of 2020. By 2025, the social commerce is expected to be ~$70B and total ecommerce to be $200 Bn as the number of online shoppers, especially from tier II cities and beyond, continues to rise. After the pandemic, Meesho has also seen an increased adoption rate in Bharat. “Overall, more than 70% of our orders come from tier II+ towns. We have seen very good adoption in tier II+ towns during the pandemic: we have served 2000+ new tier 2+ towns since June and our order share from these towns has also increased from 67% earlier to 72% between July and December 2020,” said he. Aatrey believes that the future of online shopping is social commerce and more and more retail outlets have started exploring this medium after the pandemic. “I believe evolving technology is a wakeup call for everyone in business. It is imperative for all to realize the huge potential that digital has and ways to leverage it. The lockdown period came as a lesson for many of us. Many retailers in India resorted to selling products over WhatsApp and that shows how the retail market is also changing and moving towards digital. In fact, according to a retail website, today 85% of sellers using social commerce are small, offline retailers giving sharp competition to large organized sellers on e-commerce platforms. As per Bain Analysis, India has the highest number of internet users (572 million) globally, with substantial room for growth. So, the retail market has enough potential to leverage social commerce and bloom,” elaborated Aatrey. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Carving a niche beyond social commerce" text="Carving a niche beyond social commerce">Carving a niche beyond social commerce</cmsannotation> Since a majority of its sellers and buyers are women, Meesho’s communication also centers around women empowerment. Its mission is to help women achieve financial independence. Its first TVC, conceptualised by DDB Mudra, focused on an unstated need of a woman, which is to claim what she rightfully deserves – her own identity. The film celebrated the unstoppable spirit of women who overcome all social and economic barriers with the line that captures the sentiment of 'Not just a homemaker, a Meesho Entrepreneur.' <div type="Youtube" id="Y0nSzxtiShA" title="Many Names, One Identity #MyStoreMyStory" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y0nSzxtiShA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Telling us more about the company's marketing proposition, Aatrey said, “We have more than 9 million resellers on our platform spread across 100 cities out of which 80% of them being women from smaller towns and cities. Social and cultural factors for years have kept this section of the society away from employment. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream of becoming an entrepreneur, especially women, who due to social obligations sacrifice their dreams and fall behind in terms of financial independence. We wish to give them all a sense of self and accomplishment through our platform. Social media is our backbone and these entrepreneurs, our pillars of strength.” Meesho is also fighting against e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart, who are ploughing billions of dollars and have been around for a while. Meesho’s rivals have on-boarded Bollywood celebrities and have a huge media presence. “In the era of Amazon and Flipkart, we at Meesho are trying to build trust through social commerce. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream. Our communication will remain around our USP- to help build entrepreneurs with zero capital. We will also find more channels this year to penetrate our value proposition further,” said Aatrey. Vision After the recent funding round, Meesho is aiming to build a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses to grow faster. “With the new round of funding, we are now focused on expanding our vision — from helping aspiring women entrepreneurs to creating Meesho as a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses in India to succeed online. In the last one year, we have seen tremendous growth across small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to move their businesses online. And with our new vision we will enable 100 million small businesses to start, succeed and lead their operations online with Meesho as their partner in their journey,” said Aatrey. The introduction of smartphones and penetration of the internet and WhatsApp in particular has made the market size for social commerce grow larger, which is estimated to reach $70B USD in 2025. Meesho aims to leverage this demand and go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations with different partners to accelerate its user base of resellers on the platform. “2021 has come with a new set of possibilities, opportunities, and challenges to tackle. We, at Meesho, are committed to our goal of letting anyone start a digital business with zero capital. Major focus area would be to enable increased adoption of Meesho’s platform across multiple categories which would be possible only when we are able to structurally reduce our prices for our customers. We also plan to leverage the digital ecosystem and unravel more benefits that it can offer for the betterment of our entrepreneurs and Meeho’s growth. We aim at surpassing all our achievements and recognitions from previous years and reach newer milestones. We are also looking at transforming the Meesho app for better experience for our entrepreneurs. With new built in features, we hope to enhance the look and feel of the app. ‘Meeshoites’ are looking at the year with great hope, plans and execution methods,” shared Aatrey.

Meesho's marketing strategy has been to empower women who lack financial independence, says CEO Vidit Aatrey

<ul><li>According to a report by job-finding platform Indeed India, about one in five employees in the IT sector are keen on <keyword id="64527" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moonlighting" source="Orion">moonlighting</keyword> to make extra money. </li><li>A majority of employers in e-commerce, construction and real estate preferred to have their staff working from the office. </li><li>However, remote working is still expected to continue in the job market. </li><li>Employee wellbeing has become central to many companies, who have started revising their existing employee policies to reflect this.</li></ul>The Covid-19 pandemic has completely changed the way people work. The year 2022 was all about moonlighting, getting back to office, employee wellbeing and quiet quitting. Industry experts believe that these workplace trends will continue to persist in India in 2023 as well. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Moonlighting: The debate rages on" comment="subhead" text="Moonlighting: The debate rages on">Moonlighting: The debate rages on</cmsannotation> Moonlighting — which became one of the most-talked-about trends this year — means taking up an additional job or more alongside an existing job. Business leaders of big companies have been very vocal about the issue. IT major Wipro has been the harshest critic of this trend, firing 300 staff for moonlighting. TCS and Infosys have also been critical of the practice that has been seen as unethical. Critics of the practice say that the employee offer letters clearly prohibits dual employment, and if they are found to be in transgression, companies have the right to fire them. However, advocates of moonlighting argue that as long as the employee’s moonlighting is not aiding a competitor or affecting the employer’s work, it is not unethical. The government also got in on the debate and clarified the law with regards to moonlighting. Minister of state for labour Rameswar Teli – in a written reply to a question on moonlighting in the Lok Sabha on December 19 – said that staff can’t take up additional work that is against the interest of its employer. “As per the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, a workman shall not at any time work against the interest of the industrial establishment in which he is employed and shall not take any employment in addition to his job in the establishment, which may adversely affect the interest of his employer,” he <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/epaper/delhicapital/2022/dec/20/et-front/staff-cant-take-up-work-thats-againstcos-interests-govt/articleshow/96353586.cms?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=ETepaper_paid&amp;utm_content=front-page&amp;ncode=211413ee85287150a754ff7e50c041059418e496c5e7536be1491acba8354da29ed130a02baa6260e0cce56432d0d1741465e6345732e701f5280df01c88f8849c4466db6834e525538d035e05acd84e">said</a>. However, according to a report by job-finding platform Indeed India, about one in five employees in the IT sector are keen on moonlighting to make an extra buck. Aligned to this, companies like IT major Tech Mahindra, online food delivery platform Swiggy and employee wellness platform Nova Benefits have said that their employees are allowed to take up side hustles as long as it doesn’t affect their own work. As long as employees remain keen on additional sources of income, companies will have their hands full trying to figure out strategies to retain talent while satisfying their need for extra income and challenging projects. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Remote working to stay relevant" comment="subhead" text="Remote working to stay relevant">Remote working to stay relevant</cmsannotation> This year saw a partial reversal of a key pandemic era trend, the work-from-home (WFH) option – with many companies, including IT majors, calling their employees back to office and doing away with the WFH option. However, most companies and employees are struggling to get back to normal after getting used to the ‘new normal’ of WFH. In 2023, there will be more companies who might turn strict about workplace presence. According to data shared by Indeed India, a majority of employers in e-commerce (95%), and construction and real estate (90%) prefer to have their staff working from the office, while 37% of employers in the IT sector planned on having their employees work remotely. Employees in the IT sector have already restarted working physically from the office, at least for three days a week, with WFH being allowed only on health grounds. Chandigarh topped the list of cities where employers preferred to have people working from the office, followed by Mumbai and Bangalore, where 26% and 21% of employers, respectively, preferred hybrid/remote work, as per Indeed India. However, companies could face a lot of resistance from employees who are reluctant to get back to offices. According to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/remote-working-new-normal-82-employees-prefer-working-from-home-study/articleshow/89201519.cms">Tech Talent Outlook</a> by job site SCIKEY, 82% of employees in the IT sector want to work from home rather than from the office. The remote working trend, which was initially forced on employees at the beginning to Covid-19 pandemic, has now become a preferred mode of working. A more recent Nasscom and Indeed India’s Gen Z and Millennials: Reshaping the Future of Workforce report said that while the future of work would continue to be hybrid, their survey found that <keyword id="11964015" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="gen-zs" source="Orion">Gen Zs</keyword> were more willing to go to office – 85% of Gen Zs preferred to either work completely from office or in a hybrid mode (a combination of office and remote working) Employees believe that working from home allows for more autonomy and productivity while cutting down commute time. “Increasingly, employees are showing a preference for organisations that value employees’ time, have an inclusive work environment and prioritise initiatives such as diversity and sustainability. These elements will be crucial for organisations to create a work model that best suits their sector,” said Sashi Kumar, head of sales, Indeed India. While there could be a move back to office, some degree of remote working will persist, believe experts. “Hybrid mode and remote working will continue to stay relevant in the coming years owing to the large-scale organisational benefits they offer,” said Anil Agarwal, CEO and co-founder, InCruiter, a Bangalore-based human resource consulting platform. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Can companies overcome quiet quitting?" comment="subhead" text="Can companies overcome quiet quitting?">Can companies overcome quiet quitting?</cmsannotation> Quiet quitting is another trend that emerged this year due to employee stress and burnout. It refers to an employee doing just enough work to cover the contractual obligation and nothing more, in order to spend time on personal activities. According to Indeed India's report, 33% of the employers surveyed believe that low general job satisfaction (boredom, lack of challenges, etc.) is the main reason for the growing trend of quiet quitting, while 21% believe it is a lack of commitment to jobs. Other employees believe excessive burnout, being overwhelmed with work and a lack of support from managers or bosses, has led to the rise in quiet quitting. If businesses want to attract and retain talent, they will have to pay close attention to their employees’ needs, especially that of the Gen Zs and millennials since they form a large chunk of the working population. To illustrate, Gen Zs and millennials together constituted almost 90% of the total employee base in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/as-more-freshers-are-hired-genzs-share-in-it-workforce-grows-to-18-20-nasscom-indeed/articleshow/96276835.cms">tech industry</a> in FY22. While for Gen Zs, better financial benefits, career growth and job satisfaction are what matter the most when deciding to continue working in an organisation, millennials look at job stability and flexibility to make this decision, as per the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/as-more-freshers-are-hired-genzs-share-in-it-workforce-grows-to-18-20-nasscom-indeed/articleshow/96276835.cms">Nasscom-Indeed report</a>. Many companies have now started revising their existing employee policies, making them more employee-centric. They are also starting to focus more on the mental wellbeing of employees, trends that are likely to continue into the new year. For instance, e-commerce platform Meesho gave its employees 11 days of mental health leaves this year to help them reset and recharge after a hectic festive season. This is the second time that Meesho has given mental health leaves to its employees this year.The company also announced an unlimited leave policy that allows employees to avail up to 365 days of paid leaves. “They (the companies) also strive to make the current work culture more inclusive, where employees are recognised for their hard work and diligence. Most importantly, driving work-life balance has become a priority, especially after the pandemic,” Agarwal added. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/tata-communications-to-acquire-us-based-switch-enterprises-for-486-crore/articleshow/96422481.cms">Tata Communications to acquire US-based Switch Enterprises for ₹486 crore</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/planning-to-stay-indoors-for-the-christmas-weekend-here-are-top-ott-releases-you-can-stream/slidelist/96421177.cms">Planning to stay indoors for the Christmas weekend? Here are top OTT releases you can stream</a>

Work from office, moonlighting, mental well-being — Workplace trends of 2022 that are likely to persist in the new year

<ul><li>Startups that have secured Series A and Series B funding are well-capitalised and are actively seeking to hire new talent, says a report by FICCI and <keyword id="6439430" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="randstad" source="Orion">Randstad</keyword>. </li><li>Approximately 38% indicated that they intend to recruit more junior-level employees, while 27% plan to focus on mid-level hiring. </li><li>The sectors that will be most active will be aerospace &amp; defence, energy, and healthcare startups, which are expected to increase their hiring by over 30%. </li></ul>Even as the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/16-startups-have-laid-off-100-percent-employees-in-2023-so-far-3-of-them-in-india/slidelist/98941663.cms">season of layoffs</a> continues unabated, a survey by industry body FICCI and HR services firm <keyword id="6421932" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="randstad-india" source="Orion">Randstad India</keyword> says that early-stage startups are keen on hiring. About 80% of the early-stage startups – those with a current workforce of fewer than 20 employees – are actively seeking to expand their workforce in 2023, the survey said. “Notably, these startups have secured Series A and Series B funding, are well-capitalised, and are actively seeking to hire new talent,” the report said. As many as 300 startups participated in the survey. However, there is another caveat – 92% of the startups surveyed said that their hiring decisions will primarily be driven by new project orders, additional funding raised from investors and expansion strategies. Most of these jobs will be at junior and mid-levels, the study says – approximately 38% indicated that they intend to recruit junior-level employees, while 27% plan to focus on mid-level hiring. The exceptions are agri/agritech and automotive sectors, which will focus more on senior-level C-suite hiring. The sectors that will be most active will be aerospace &amp; defence, energy, and healthcare startups, which are expected to increase their hiring by over 30%. Next come agri/agritech, AI/ML/deeptech, automotive, and e-commerce/delivery services, which are expected to increase hiring by 11-20%. “Every large corporation once started as an early-stage company and navigated its way through several challenges to reach where they are today. The Indian startup ecosystem will be a significant contributor to India’s economic growth over the next few years. These startups will eventually go on to create unique employment opportunities and career paths,” said Viswanath PS, MD &amp; CEO, Randstad India. Most of the surveyed startups (57.76%) are keen on hiring for permanent job roles, while 42% said they were looking to hire temporary and gig workers. Attrition, layoffs &amp; job insecurity Startups have been hit hard by layoffs since the funding winter that set in during the second half of 2022. In the last couple of quarters, funding activity has slowed down by as much as 80%, and startups find their spending power to retain their people severely restrained, the report said. Startups like Byju’s, Udaan, Oyo, Meesho, Swiggy, Dunzo and more have been laying off employees in the last few quarters. On the other hand, startups also face high attrition rates, due to the job insecurity that comes with working in a startup, which has only risen due to large-scale layoffs. According to estimates by Analytics India Attrition Study 2022, high-growth startup companies face a high attrition rate of 43.7 % – which is about 1.7x that of typical organisations – despite better pay packages and growth opportunities. “In our survey, 54.38 % of the startups attributed the high attrition rate to better pay packages by bigger corporates and fear of job security in a startup — besides lack of clarity in career progression clarity and credibility issues,” the FICCI survey said. Startups also face hiring challenges like deficit in requisite skills, mismatches in salary expectations and a reluctance among potential candidates to join a startup due to concerns over risk perception, the survey added. To combat these issues, startups are using employee stock options or ESOPs as a retention tool. And, 41.5% of surveyed startups said they already offer them to their employees. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/hiring-outlook-remains-strong-for-blue-collar-jobs-in-manufacturing-and-services-in-q1-2024/articleshow/99060293.cms">Amid layoff doom, hiring outlook remains strong for blue-collar jobs in manufacturing and services: TeamLease</a>

Early-stage startups keen on hiring for mid and junior roles: FICCI-Randstad survey

Several global megatrends are transforming work and skill demands, such as technology, climate change, demographic shifts, urbanisation, and global value chains. People are no longer settling for unfulfilling and unhappy roles in the middle of ‘The Great Resignation.’ They desire learning, self-improvement, and knowledge growth instead. Applicants expect their employers to provide ongoing learning and development (L&amp;D) opportunities. With multiple advancements in modern technology, work practices need to evolve and keep pace, paving the way for continuous process improvement. Without a doubt, today, it is essential for the labour force to have skill sets on par with market trends. The development of skills contributes to structural transformation and employee productivity. Rethinking upskilling In light of this, Business Insider got candid with a few professional leaders. When asked how they needed to rethink their business to accommodate the next-generation workforce? Margaret D'Souza, Chief Human Resources Officer at Zeta, said, "Millennials and Gen Zers have been relatively evenly distributed in the workforce. They have experienced a career awakening, and work has not become the centre of their lives, but merely a part of it. Their primary concerns are, "how fast can I achieve my goals," "what is my life's purpose," and "is my passion aligned with what I am doing?" This has in turn accelerated how much they want to learn. This replaced long-term career development decisions with short-term ones. They now look for faster role growth and faster opportunities to use new skills. “On the bright side, they have a thirst for doing more in less time thanks to the pandemic, which provided ample opportunities to pursue other passions and opened up their eyes to new perspectives on their careers,” she said. It is agreeable, though that the current and next-generation workforce is 1. Self-motivated 2. Possess tech-savvy intelligence. 3. Desire to reinvest in oneself 4. Seek an advantage in cutting-edge technologies “So, the responsibility falls on companies to learn to be agile and stay relevant to help employees upskill,” Ashish <keyword id="255172" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kumar-singh" source="Orion">Kumar Singh</keyword>, CHRO, Meesho opines. However, businesses still face a problem in adjusting to this marginally different view of a career and in making wise decisions to effectively retain and develop their personnel. Therefore, investing in a skilled workforce can start a positive loop of increased productivity. As a result, both the existing and future workforces are more productive and employable. <keyword id="15985200" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pooja-dudani" source="Orion">Pooja Dudani</keyword>, AVP of HR at Cast24, sheds light on the same, saying, “Regardless of their work conditions, this generation is aware that it is up to them to make a difference and will do so." They are not the type to hope for a great opportunity from a potential employer.” Motivating the workforce The big question now would be, How do we keep these go-getters interested, relevant and motivated to stay in a job and get things done? Geetika Hans, VP and Head of HR for Product and Global Functions and Diversity Leader at OYO Rooms, said, “This generation needs to be challenged with more responsibility than what you would normally give someone their age. They are aware that they are investing their time into a company, which is why they command flexibility." One strategy for keeping employees on a growth cycle in a fast-paced environment is to encourage microlearning. Microlearning is a brief, concise kind of employee training. When training material is presented in easily digestible pieces at the right moment, it is more likely to be remembered. Additionally, future-proofing your wokrforce by nurturing in-house talent for leadership roles provides a big boost. Puneet Khurana, CHRO <keyword id="161885" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="policy-bazaar" source="Orion">Policy Bazaar</keyword>, explains the perks of doing so, “Growing leaders internally and saving senior positions for current employees helps avoid onboarding leaders in the future, which saves time and money." Additionally, it gives workers a chance to progress their careers and raises morale because a happy worker is always a productive one.” <keyword id="592503" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="lokendra-saini" source="Orion">Lokendra Saini</keyword>, COO at Ease my Trip, advises every organisation to have an academy to groom its resources so they know that the company is investing in them. The cherry on top of the cake here would be to offer internal job postings so employees can look at growing another skill within the company. Arushee Aggarwal, Head of Coursera Business, added to that suggestion, pointing out that role-based skilling would produce a better ROI. “It is important to tie learning opportunities to end points like possible career opportunities to ensure the upskilling is taken seriously." Companies thrive under this kind of growth. Upskilling: Gauging success metrics However, it isn’t enough to develop the program and ask people to participate. Although it’s critical to be enthusiastic about this initiative, leaders should also take steps to maximize its accuracy and efficiency. Let’s examine some best practices for assessing skill gaps and reskilling top talent. How can leaders gauge the success of upskilling initiatives? The large-level indicators that help leaders understand that an employee is on the right track 1. Check on improvement in productivity. 2. Check if the employees are able to impact business goals. Pooja Dudani, AVP of HR at Cast24, concluded by saying employers and leaders should journey with employees till the goal is reached. It’s less of a lone ranger and more of a partnership. In isolation, the end goal will die. Talent and skills need to be nurtured. That being said, it’s important to monitor and reward small milestones through regular one-on-ones. Despite the advantages, a lot of reskilling programmes frequently fail because of a lack of readiness, useful tools, and competent talent. Because of this, it's critical to spot skills shortages early on and pick the appropriate candidates for retraining. The last and possibly most important step is to evaluate your efforts. Disclaimer: This article is generated and published by the Insider Studios team. You can get in touch with them on insiderstudios@businessinsider.in

How upskilling can drive employee and business growth

<keyword id="45008" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-power" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="tata power" meta.entityname="Tata Power Company Ltd." meta.entityid="12918" meta.seoname="tata-power-company-ltd">Tata Power</keyword> on Friday announced its plans to develop around 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity, mainly solar energy, in the next five years in <keyword id="6355588" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rajasthan" source="Orion">Rajasthan</keyword>. "Tata Power plans to have a renewable power portfolio of 10,000 MW in the state of Rajasthan in the next five years," a company statement said. Participating in the ongoing Invest Rajasthan summit in Jaipur, it stated that it plans to develop up to 8,000 MW of utility-scale projects, 1,000 MW of solar rooftops and 1,50,000 solar pumps in the next five years in the state. Tata Power, along with its fully-owned subsidiary <keyword id="12146018" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tata-power-solar" source="Orion">Tata Power Solar</keyword>, will expand its presence in the state to generate clean energy through solar power. The company employs more than 4,500 people in the state, and its expansion projects will generate employment for more than 6,000-8,000 people in the next five years. Dr Praveer Sinha, CEO &amp; MD of Tata Power, said in the statement, "Both in terms of potential and what has been done so far, Rajasthan has today emerged as a role model to produce green energy through solar power. I am happy to be here in Invest Rajasthan summit. With its already strong footprint in the state, Tata Power is fully poised to make Rajasthan future-ready and realise its full potential and emerge as a green powerhouse of the country. We will continue to build on all three businesses -- <keyword id="129822" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="epc" source="Orion">EPC</keyword>, solar pump and solar rooftop -- to the benefit of farmers, industries and common citizens of this frontier state." Rajasthan is an important state for Tata Power's renewable business. It presently has a portfolio of 4,939 MWp. To date, Tata Power has commissioned 2,066 MW in Rajasthan and around 2,873 MW capacity of solar projects are under construction, which will be completed in the next 12-24 months. TP Ajmer Distribution Ltd, a unit of Tata Power, has completed 5 years of operations and has enhanced the consumer experience in Ajmer. Tata Power has ensured safe and reliable supply in Ajmer and also achieved AT&amp;C (Aggregate Technical and Commercial) loss reduction from 22 per cent to 9 per cent. With the support and favourable policies of the government of Rajasthan, the company is looking forward to opportunities for power distribution in various other cities of the state under the collaborative <keyword id="113605" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="public-private-partnership" source="Orion">Public Private Partnership</keyword> (PPP) model and to serve the citizens of Rajasthan with quality power supply. With respect to solar pumps, Tata Power plans to set up around 1,50,000 pumps in the next five years in the state. The company has so far installed nearly 21,600 solar pumps in Jaipur, Hanumangarh, Ganganagar, Jalore and Bikaner. Tata Power through its rooftop services has a cumulative installed capacity of 65 MW in Rajasthan. The company has been doing extensive work for industrial belts like marble, granite and stone crushing etc in Rajasthan located in regions like Ajmer, Sirohi, Rajsamand, Jalore and Makrana. Through its various rooftop offerings, Tata Power has installed over 20 MW of rooftops for these industries. These installations have resulted in cumulative savings of about Rs 20 crore per annum for customers. Tata Power is also working towards setting up a robust EV charging infrastructure in the state to enable the faster transition towards electric mobility. The company has installed over 1,100 home chargers and 100 public chargers in Rajasthan. In the next few years, Tata Power plans to install 10,000 public EV charging points in the state. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/looking-to-invest-in-ipos-heres-how-to-pick-winners-and-spot-the-duds/articleshow/94704252.cms">Looking to invest in IPOs? Here’s how to pick winners and spot the duds</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms">Flipkart group leads e-commerce festive sales, Meesho is second largest contributor in order volume: Redseer</a>

Tata Power mulls 10,000 MW clean energy capacity in next five years in Rajasthan

<ul><li>Indian startups have already laid off over 6,000 employees in the last five months.</li><li>The layoff season is likely to continue in the coming months as investors get cautious.</li><li>So far companies like Ola, Unacademy, Vedantu have laid off over 3,600 employees this year.</li></ul>Indian startups have already laid off around 6,000 employees in the last five months. But this startup firing season will continue, according to several experts that Business Insider spoke to. Archit Garg, co-founder at Glamyo Health, pegs <keyword id="4234518" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-layoffs" source="Orion">startup layoffs</keyword> at 10 times the current number at — 60,000. “Unfortunately there is more pain in the ecosystem and funding environment could take 6- 9 months to reverse, so chances are that the actual number will be 10 times of this as I expect there will be more negative news which we will hear about in the near future,” said Garg. Edtech employees could be the biggest victims as students are going back to schools. “With the significant crisis brewing in the Indian edtech sector, a lack of clarity in structure and processes comes as a blockage,” Naveen Jangir, co-founder of HRTech company Incluzon, said. So far companies like Ola, Unacademy, Vedantu have laid off over 3,600 employees this year, according to media reports as well as company’s announcements. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Layoffs </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Ola </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2,100 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Unacademy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">925 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Vedantu </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">624 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Cars24 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">600 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mfine </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">600 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Trell </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Lido Learning </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">200 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Furlenco </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">200 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Meesho </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">150 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">OkCredit </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">40 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5,739 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Company Announcements, Media Reports Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/the-worst-for-indian-startups-is-yet-to-come-be-prepared-for-layoffs-unicorn-slowdown-and-startup-shutdowns-in-2022/articleshow/91681195.cms">The worst for Indian startups is yet to come — be prepared for layoffs, unicorn slowdown and startup shutdowns in 2022</a> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Hired too, and now there will be much firing" comment="subhead" text="Hired too, and now there will be much firing">Hired too, and now there will be much firing</cmsannotation> Yogita Tulsiani, the managing director and cofounder at global tech-recruiter provider iXceed Solutions, noted that both low-funded and highly-funded startups would be impacted by this. Most companies hired aggressively during the start of the pandemic and are unable to handle it now. Each company has a long term plan and unprecedented scenarios such as the events happening now can impact their hiring and team sizes, said Sarbojit Mallick, co-founder of advanced hiring platform Instahyre. He noted that the plan would also include consolidation of internal departments, streamlining of operations and tightening of the gaps. Sujata Pawar, co-founder and CEO of menstrual care startup Avni, noted that startups that fail to manage their runway and carefully grow the business will be subjected to such layoffs. “As long as organisations are successful in adapting to the changing market dynamics, retaining talent won't be much of a hassle. In this new world, with the workforce ready to jump into multiple opportunities, consulting, contractual projects and more, these obstacles will not concern either employers or employees." Piyush Raj Akhouri, co-founder and business head at recruitment firm Bridgentech Consulting, said. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Startups will keep hiring too" comment="subhead" text="Startups will keep hiring too">Startups will keep hiring too</cmsannotation> Piyush Bhartiya, co-founder and CEO of AdmitKard — which helps with end-to-end career advisory startup for students studying abroad — highlighted that for every company that is laying off employees there are another 100 who are hiring. “Like I said, some companies are laying off, others like ours are hiring. I do not see that will impact the employment ratios too dramatically,” he added. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/vodafone-coal-india-bpcl-among-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-may-26/slidelist/91801171.cms">Vodafone, Coal India, BPCL among stocks to watch out for on May 26 </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/vehicle-insurance-premiums-may-increase-from-april-2022/articleshow/90043466.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/biscuits-ghee-and-hair-oil-to-get-cheaper-after-government-duty-cut-but-after-three-months/articleshow/91784809.cms">Biscuits, ghee and hair oil to get cheaper after government duty cut — but after three months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/zomato-to-grasim-to-aditya-birla-capital-here-are-six-stocks-that-brokerages-say-you-should-buy/articleshow/91788937.cms">Zomato to Grasim to Aditya Birla Capital — here are six stocks that brokerages say you should buy</a>

It would be a long firing season for startups —  experts say 60,000 could lose their jobs

<ul><li><keyword id="2551143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fidelity-Information-Services" source="Orion">Fidelity Information Services</keyword> (<keyword id="4776620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fis" source="Orion">FIS</keyword>) is looking to hire over 10,000 individuals in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> over the next 12-months.</li><li>The successful applicants, it said, will be staffed across FIS offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Mohali, <keyword id="11900977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gurugram" source="Orion">Gurugram</keyword>.</li><li>FIS employs over 55,000 people in over 50 countries today. </li></ul>Florida-based fintech firm Fidelity Information Services (FIS), which provides technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally, is looking to hire over 10,000 individuals in India over the next 12-months to fill positions across various roles at all levels to fuel its future growth. The recruitment drive, it said, will focus on hiring people through campus placements at leading educational institutes in India. The successful applicants, it said, will be staffed across FIS offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Mohali, Gurugram. “India is a strategic centre of employment for FIS with nearly one-third of FIS colleagues living and working within the country’s borders,” the Fortune 500 company said in a press release on Thursday. Founded in 1968 as Systematics, FIS employs over 55,000 people in over 50 countries today. It offers more than 450 solutions and claims to process over $75 billion of transactions across the globe. Over the past 18 months, FIS has been encouraging a hybrid working model/flexi hours, which the company said, has helped it improve the work-life balance for its employees and made its workforce more productive. The company also said it promotes an inclusive work culture for people from all types of social backgrounds including the differently abled and queer communities. “FIS has had a presence in India for more than two decades, and this recruitment drive underscores our continued commitment to providing rewarding career opportunities for India’s top talent. We are creating new opportunities across the country which will help FIS continue to advance the way the world pays, banks and invests,” said <keyword id="10574609" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amol-gupta" source="Orion">Amol Gupta</keyword>, chief human resources officer for India and Philippines at FIS. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/meesho-raises-more-than-half-a-billion-dollars-in-the-fourth-biggest-funding-round-this-year/articleshow/86636161.cms">Meesho raises more than half a billion dollars in the fourth biggest funding round this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/vedantu-the-last-and-biggest-rival-of-byjus-has-finally-entered-the-unicorn-club/articleshow/86614637.cms">Vedantu, the last and biggest rival of Byju’s, has finally entered the unicorn club</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-powers-stock-gains-on-transformation-towards-renewable-energy/articleshow/86640268.cms">Tata Power wants to break up with coal and investors love it</a>

American fintech firm FIS will hire over 10,000 people in India

<ul><li>Y Combinator has seen a 50% increase in participation from <keyword id="982553" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-startups">Indian startups</keyword>. </li><li>As many as 12 <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> ranging from fuel delivery to customised clothing will deliver their ideas on demo day. </li><li>Startups like Cleartax, Razorpay, Meesho among others have been a part of the accelerator programmes earlier.</li></ul>One of the world’s most renowned accelerator programmes, Y Combinator, is concluding its summer programme with a demo day, where it will also be funding them. During the demo day, 12 Indian startups (2 of them have not been made public yet) are presenting their business ideas. Y Combinator, which takes in two batches of startups in a year, saw a 50% increase in participation from Indian startups. As many as 140 seed stage startups applied to the accelerator, while 12 of them were selected. Startups like Cleartax, Razorpay, Meesho among others have been a part of Y Combinator programmes earlier. Here are the 10 Indian startups that are presenting their ideas at the Demo Day. MyPetrolPump The Bengaluru-based startup delivers on-demand fuel to cars, fleet vehicles and generators. Founded in 2016, the startup has so far delivered 5 million litres of fuel, making revenues to the tune of ₹25 crore in FY19. They start delivery at 6 am in the morning, and it goes on until midnight. Lokal Lokal is a news app which delivers news and classifieds in vernacular content. The app currently delivers news in Telugu for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Wingman The startup helps sales representatives with on-screen and real-time analysis. The startup’s AI assistant helps the employees, and assists them with cue cards for their presentations, helping them improve performance. DigiPrex DigPrex works as an online pharmacy where patients can share prescription online and get medicines delivered at home, via through Whatsapp. Khabri The podcast platform offers vernacular content to Indians. Their content ranges from news to inspirational content and even jobs, where users can tune in to listen to information on-the-go. Mela Mela is an e-commerce platform that enables group buying through WhatsApp and Facebook. The platform helps collective buying at much cheaper costs and works much like the popular Chinese platform Pinduoduo. Nonu Nonu is a personal healthcare startup, specializing in hair loss treatment with prescription medicines, shampoos, and more. Vahan Vahan is a recruitment platform which uses Artificial Intelligence to match employers with job seekers. Through its messaging platform, it promises faster recruitment. GreenTiger Two former Microsoft employees Prateek Swain and Tyler Burnam launched GreenTiger, which helps Indians invest in the US stock market. The startup is based out of Sunnyvale, California. Binks Binks, launched in 2019, helps women get custom-made clothes online. Through the platform, women can pick styles, take a photograph and upload it on the platform along with measurements and then a custom made outfit is delivered in three days.

These 10 Indian startups are taking part in Y Combinator’s demo day

<ul><li>Many research studies conducted across the world show that women are more stressed and discouraged since the pandemic began as they take on an increasing amount of responsibility at home and in their careers.</li><li>The ad, media and marketing industry has a lot more women today than a decade ago. However, many drop out by the time they reach mid-management levels, primarily due to the lack of flexible hours and ever-increasing workload.</li><li>So this Women’s Day, we decided to speak to women in leadership positions about how we can make women feel welcome at workplaces. They told us how employers can support women and create a more high-trust, inclusive environment for the future.</li><li>The women leaders we spoke to believe organizations need to prioritize training more women, to prepare them for leadership roles, and this should be a part of the company’s culture.</li></ul>In the work-from-home era, the responsibility of unpaid domestic work and raising kids has fallen on Indian women more than men. This has affected their ambitions and careers, widening the gender gap at the workplace. A McKinsey report found that women around the world have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has heightened the large and small inequalities—both at work and at home—that women face daily. One in four women are considering leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers versus one in five men. Women only form less than a third of the workforce in marketing, sales and less than a fifth in data analysis, and artificial intelligence, revealed a World Economic Forum’s 2020 study. Another survey by Deloitte found that 51% of women are less optimistic about their career prospects than they were before the pandemic. A lot of women who have chosen to stick to their jobs have missed out on a fair promotion or raise. A LinkedIn report shows that 85% of women in India have missed out on a raise, promotion because of their gender. Women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected despite increasing flexibility at work, as 68% of women and 74% of working mothers in India say it is difficult to balance career and familial responsibilities today. More than 7 in 10 women and working mothers in India also say that household responsibilities often come in their way of their career progression. As you move up in the hierarchy of the corporate world, there’s also a lack of women leaders in the upper rungs. As per Egon Zehnder Global Diversity Report 2020, women in India occupy 5% of executive chairs and 10% of non-executive chairs. The report indicates that only 11% of committee chairs are held by women, while the number stands at 27.3% globally. Having said that, the world of advertising, marketing and media has seen a lot of <keyword id="3275573" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="women-in-leadership-roles" source="Orion">women in leadership roles</keyword>. While we are still far from an equal man-woman ratio in the industry, it is heartening to see more and more women take the top spots. On the other hand, advertising and media are industries that hold a lot of power in shifting perceptions and mending beliefs. The advertising industry was infamous for perpetuating gender stereotypes -- from a sacrificing mother to a man being the bread-earner, the portrayal of women has remained very shallow for years. How brands depict women and their role in society has evolved today, she is independent, she has a voice and is slowly learning to care less about society’s judgement, but we haven’t taken a big leap yet. She is still a woman who is ‘aesthetically pleasing,’ fair-skinned, doesn’t come from a minority community and is a little far from real. There’s almost no progress towards including transwomen in women’s day ads or communication throughout the year. Once we achieve an equal number of gender representation inside Indian advertising agencies, media organisations and the marketing world, there will be diverse opinions in a brainstorming session, leading to better B2C communication. So this women’s day, we decided to speak to women in leadership positions about how we can make women feel welcome at workplaces. They told us how employers can support women and create a more high-trust, inclusive environment during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what they had to say about improving equality at work: Meghana Dave - Head Marketing &amp; PR, Lamborghini India: Power v/s Purpose, women inherently are purpose-driven. The changing environment requires leadership that is driven by adaptability, agility and ambition. Today, companies need these traits to outperform competition which has to deliver in the known and unknown environment. To bring balance and speed with positivity, we need more women in the leadership role. Look at what Falguni Nayyar has done with Nykaa or Anjali Sudd has done with Vimeo. In the 21st century companies will need purpose, innovation and balance to achieve the top position, and the right time to bring women to lead the next generation of business growth. To encourage more women to join these industries by encouraging new formats of working culture or environment. Covid has challenged the traditional approach, and today work from home has become the new normal. Secondly, by promoting diversity and opening leadership positions for women and third, we can improve the pay scale and inculcate mentorship for potential women leaders. Rachna Kanwar, Chief Operating Officer, Digital Media, Radio City and Mid-Day: Women in Corporate India have taken a heavy toll during Covid 19 lockdowns. Organisations, however, rarely recognise the double effort that women have to put into their regular day, which during the pandemic, ravaged their mental and physical health. Having said that, women emerged stronger, seldom seeking ‘preferential treatment.’ Companies need to address and recognise this effort as women continue to remain underrepresented at all levels. Thankfully, in the Media industry, with the inclusion of advertising &amp; marketing, there have been plenty of examples of women super achievers acting as role models for younger women which has led to greater gender parity, but women leaders still need to play a major role in supporting and seeing to it that more leaders emerge from the shadows of doubt and stereotypes to claim their rightful places. It is heartening to see more and more women leaders at Radio City and Midday and all of us here are committed to diversity and excellence. Building a positive mindset for diversity at all levels in an organisation goes a long way in ensuring an equal workplace. Strong women leaders in the organisation act as role models for women aspiring to reach the top. They also help in providing a more empathetic environment which is required at certain delicate stages of a woman employee’s career. And lastly, they provide the much needed confidence both for the women employees and the organisation by being a case study in excellence. At Radio City, a large number of leadership positions are held by women which motivates and inspires the mid-level and entry-level women employees to dream big. Diversity has many virtues and numerous reports time and again have proved that a diverse organisation is a better organisation. Radio City was amongst ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2019.’ Additionally, in 2020, Radio City ranked 4th in ‘Best Large Workplaces in Asia’, according to the GPTW survey. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director, Syska Group: I think what is happening is we are definitely attracting more women, but are unable to retain them. The industry also needs to take steps to stop showcasing and representing women in stereotypical ways. The truth is women need to start taking credit for their work, brag and self-promote. What men need to understand is with diversity creativity and innovation only booms. I personally feel advertising, media and marketing industries are more unstructured, and there is no one to help you climb that ladder. You will have to do it yourself. More so we need more women, to help support and mentor other women. I think to be a safe and inclusive environment, we really need to listen to our employees. I have always said that my employees are my first customers. Goals and expectations need to be set mutually, team members need to appreciate each other and there has to be a certain level of trust within the team. Megha Agarwal, CXO-Growth, Meesho: In my last 12 years of working, I have seen many smart women entering the workforce but also taking a step back and stepping out, especially at two pivotal points – marriage and motherhood. The societal maxim is such that it places higher expectations on women, compelling them to juggle many roles – wife, mother, primary caregiver among others. What is imperative is to create support structures that empower them to strike the perfect balance between personal and professional commitments. An example on this front could be Meesho’s recent boundaryless workplace model, enabling people to work from home/ anywhere so that it gives flexibility to facilitate adjustments. Additionally, we, as employers, also need to make a perception shift towards sabbaticals taken by women to rear children. These vital steps could be further bolstered by initiatives aimed to ease their comeback into the workforce again. The responsibility lies with us to act as change agents to create the change we aspire to see. Pragya Misra, Public Affairs Director at Truecaller: I have always believed that empathy, freedom to be authentic and listening are critical to building a work environment that promotes equality. This begins with introducing diversity in the leadership so that the perspectives and related challenges of different employee profiles can be properly understood and addressed. Finally, implementing flexible policies, promoting healthy and non-late work hours, having industry standard pay scale and having actionable punishments (and transparency) in place for any intolerant offenses are some of the other measures that can be put into place to ensure a safe and equal work environment. At Truecaller, being respectful, celebrating diversity and equality in the workplace is deeply set in our values as a company. We continue to make communication safer through our spam blocking, scam and fraud alerts, this principle of safety reflects in our workplace through our employee policies. The inability to feel safe in both offline and online spaces adversely impacts women’s confidence and hinders their ability to grow and thrive. This year we are urging people to #CallitOut and report harassment to the authorities when you see or experience it. We are bringing together all the key stakeholders like government, law enforcement, civil society, mental health experts, lawyers and survivors to work collaboratively to improve the safety of women and continue our 5 year long effort to minimise harassment. This year, we want to create an environment that allows women to feel safe in society, their workplace and in their online communication. Kanika Mittal, Large Customer Solutions, Lead at Twitter India: I strongly believe that a leader is only as good as his/her team &amp; therefore our path starts with building a team that looks like the amazing people of all backgrounds and abilities who use our service every day. At Twitter, we're on a journey to become the world's most inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible tech company — it's key to serving the public conversation. For Inclusion &amp; Diversity strategies to have an impact, leaders along with companies need to ensure that they are tackling systemic challenges and also impacting and nurturing inclusive behavior amongst the team. This requires adapting a new way of thinking and making the right decisions such as becoming more distributed, empowering women employees to share and leverage their unique perspectives and experiences for growth and opportunities. Collectively we’ve got work to do to build a truly inclusive culture across the industry. We’ve made steady progress, and as industry our work doesn’t end <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UntilWeAllBelong?src=hashtag_click">#UntilWeAllBelong</a>. Anika Wadhera, Head of Digital Marketing, Sirona: A supportive work environment is one in which each and every employee can discuss job-related difficulties in confidence and without fear of backlash. Actively showing appreciation to the staff, and encouraging them to exhibit appreciation for each other, is an easy and gratifying way to establish a great working atmosphere. Employees, both male and female, should be taught about ethical behavior and how to create a culture that supports everyone's safety. Although enforcing policies and holding instructional sessions are beneficial, a process or system that promotes power equality in the business can be implemented, reducing the number of unpleasant experiences. My advice to all wonderful women around me will be to ’Take a stand for yourself &amp; be vocal. The world is your oyster.’ We as 21st-century women should focus on creating a network; it may be one of the most powerful factors in our career at any level, whether one is a fresher or a senior leader, just network, network &amp; network. Shradha Agarwal, COO &amp; Strategy Head, Grapes: Women at leadership roles play a very crucial role in the comprehensive growth and development of any organization. They are the true manifestation of sustainable growth. A woman inherently is nurturing and being in a leadership position helps her in cultivating an inclusive work culture with diversity at the core of the organizational structure. This diversity is the precursor of diverse ideas that stimulates creativity and champions for more quality in business operations. Women have a warm and welcoming disposition which enables the organization to develop a much stronger bond and connect with their customers. In any workforce, the major loophole at the very base level is the lack of proper guidance to define the roles and duties to be fulfilled by a person. In order to help them realize their true potential, it is important to first connect with the people. By putting themselves in other’s shoes it becomes easier to understand the situation better and provide a relatable solution. As developing a connection and affinity for people comes naturally to women, in leadership positions they are better able to relate with and understand the pain of their teammates. To get women to join the advertising and marketing industry the mantra is very simple, just make them feel they are making ads for themselves. As women are better listeners and good storytellers, one needs to harness these qualities of women to motivate them to pursue a career in this field. They are better adept at giving a diverse perspective and drawing holistic pictures to a narration. Advertising and marketing is not about selling products, it goes way beyond and is about telling the right story. It is about connecting with the brand rather than the product as the products can be replaced but the brand remains constant. And women love and enjoy such jobs, it is just that we need to tap on this quality of women. Sowmya Iyer, Founder and CEO of DVio Digital: Women have faced more significant economic hardships through the pandemic - disproportionately losing jobs and income. A recent report by LinkedIn shows how Covid-19 has impacted women’s careers. About 85% of women in India have missed out on a promotion because of their gender. Despite the increase in flexibility at work, women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected. So, it is safe to say that we are far away from building an inclusive environment for employees of all gender spectrum. Company policies will have to be redefined and relooked at to give women space to work, grow, and balance their careers and Homes. DViO Digital, is an equal opportunity provider. We work towards hiring and promoting our employees based on their merit and not just gender. Our current workforce has a fair divide of 55:45 women to men ratio; a similar trend can be seen in our leadership team, which has a 60:40 ratio (60% women and 40% men), which is not by design but by default. Hence it is safe to say that women are naturally inclined towards the advertising and marketing industry. Tanya Bami - Series Head, Netflix India: The representation of women in entertainment has been increasing with the times and we couldn’t be happier! At Netflix, we are focussed on entertaining the world with authentic stories that are a true reflection of our times and society. Be it Delhi Crime, Aranyak, Masaba Masaba, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, or our latest series The Fame Game, the characters can be determined, driven, fabulous or flawed.” •Since the beginning of 2020, we have collaborated with over 2400 women creators, talent, and crew on and off screen in India. •Half (15) of our original films and series in 2021 had a woman as the central character. • Netflix has 15+ female forward titles already announced for 2022. Apart from the already released Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, Looop Lapeta and The Fame Game, the upcoming titles include Mai, Monica, O My Darling, Masaba Masaba Season 2, Mismatched Season 2, She Season 2, Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives Season 2, The Fame Game, Qala, Plan A Plan B, Khufiya, among others. •In 2021 Netflix worked with nearly 50 women producers, directors or writers (25 women producers and directors + 23 women writers - 2X the women writers in 2020. •In addition, Netflix has worked with incredible women standup comics- Rytasha Rathore, Urooj Ashfaq, Prashasti Singh, Prajakta Koli, Sumukhi Suresh, Mallika Dua, Kaneez Surka and Sumaira Shaikh. •Inclusivity also extends internally to all of us at Netflix as women make up 51.7% of our global workforce, up from 48.7% in 2020. This includes 6.9% growth of women directors and above, totalling 51.1%. Aditi Shrivastava, CEO &amp; Co-Founder, Pocket Aces: It all starts from the top. If there is equality in the mind, it will automatically trickle down to every level within the organization. A few key base rules I always keep in mind: ● Think in terms of equity (not stock options in this case, but what is required to get people to the same level) rather than equality (i.e. providing the exact opportunities to each person) ● Be a true meritocracy ● Even in the most equal households, women are often expected to be the primary caretaker of children or parents, so keep that in mind ● Don’t forget to groom young female talent in the company right from the go by increasing their confidence levels and encouraging them to not be ambivalent about their ambitions and dreams ● Discourage even mildly offensive loose talk / jokes at the workplace ● Have a strong POSH committee in place ● Encourage older male employees / leaders to unlearn from previous “male club” workplaces and see the value their female counterparts can add Overall, be conscious about gender diversity and equity. It won’t happen by chance.

You Searched For "Meesho employment" and got 13 results

E-commerce is expected to help seasonal hiring for gig roles surge by 20% this festival season: reports

BI India Bureau

Meesho allows employees to permanently work from anywhere

IANS

Meet India’s Real Gully Boy: Vidit Aatrey of Meesho is taking the entrepreneurial dream deep inside Bharat

Malini Bhupta

Online e-commerce player Meesho is the new crorepati factory

Eetika Kapoor

Meesho's marketing strategy has been to empower women who lack financial independence, says CEO Vidit Aatrey

Karuna Sharma

Work from office, moonlighting, mental well-being — Workplace trends of 2022 that are likely to persist in the new year

Vaamanaa Sethi

Early-stage startups keen on hiring for mid and junior roles: FICCI-Randstad survey

Katya Naidu

How upskilling can drive employee and business growth

Insider Studios

Tata Power mulls 10,000 MW clean energy capacity in next five years in Rajasthan

PTI

It would be a long firing season for startups — experts say 60,000 could lose their jobs

Kritti Bhalla

American fintech firm FIS will hire over 10,000 people in India

Ridhima Saxena

These 10 Indian startups are taking part in Y Combinator’s demo day

Sanchita Dash

Women in leadership across media, brands and advertising on improving gender representation and retaining women in the workforce

Karuna Sharma

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