Temporary hiring is expected to rise 15-20% this festive season as companies step up recruitment for specialised frontline roles to meet increased demand during an extended festive period. According to TeamLease Services' Festive Season Workforce Report 2026, hiring across organised retail, e-commerce, quick commerce, logistics, FMCG and consumer durables is expected to grow significantly this festive season. As sale windows extend from Independence Day through Diwali and the year-end holiday season, employers are building workforces designed for sustained execution rather than handling short-term demand spikes. Also Read "The festive hiring season continues to evolve beyond volume hiring to precision hiring. Employers are focusing equally on speed, productivity, and customer experience, leading to increased demand for specialised operational roles," said TeamLease Services Senior Vice President Balasubramanian A.
The report identifies warehouse pickers, packers and dark-store personnel as the largest hiring categories this festive season, followed by in-store promoters and specialists, retail associates, cashiers and store operations executives. Demand is also rising for newer operational roles such as inventory and fulfilment coordinators, warehouse automation operators and returns management executives. This shift reflects the growing importance of instant fulfilment across electronics, beauty, fashion and gifting, with quick commerce increasing its share of festive spending to 12% from 8% a year earlier. Festive e-commerce gross merchandise value crossed ₹1.2 trillion last season, highlighting the significant scale of online shopping during the festive period.
According to the TeamLease EdTech Career Outlook Report, fresher hiring intent weakened in information technology during the second half of 2026, falling to 76% in July-December from 81% in January-June. In contrast, manufacturing emerged as the strongest performer with hiring intent rising to 89% from 86%, while engineering and infrastructure increased to 66% from 61%. Logistics showed significant growth at 53% from 48%, and fast-moving consumer goods reached 86% from 80%. Overall, 75% of the 1,097 employers surveyed intended to hire freshers, up from 73% in the previous six months. The hiring outlook is expected to remain positive in the second half of 2026, with 75% of employers intending to hire fresh talent during July-December, up from 73% in the previous six months, according to the report.
As reported by TeamLease EdTech, Bengaluru recorded the highest hiring intent at 89%, followed by Mumbai at 75% and Chennai at 71%. Hyderabad stood at 60%, Delhi at 49%, and Pune at 41%. Compared with the previous year, hiring intent rose in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Pune, while it declined in Coimbatore and Gurugram. E-commerce and technology start-ups and retail recorded the highest fresher hiring intent at 93% each, followed by manufacturing at 89%. Consulting and educational services were at the bottom with hiring intent of 19% and 21% respectively. Geographically, hiring momentum is expected to remain strongest in southern and western India, led by Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad, while tier I metros will account for 40.5% of the frontline workforce in 2026, up from 38.2% in 2025. Tier-II cities are expected to account for 26.5%, while tier-III markets will contribute 33%.
According to the latest report, frontline salaries could increase by 8-10% during the second half of 2026, although employees' effective take-home pay may rise by 5-8% due to labour law changes. To improve retention during peak demand, employers are increasingly deploying attendance bonuses, sale-event surge pay, referral incentives, productivity-linked rewards and digital learning programmes. The report indicates that there is no major quantitative shortage of talent for customer-facing, retail or warehouse roles this festive season. This suggests that hiring is increasingly shifting from qualification-led recruitment towards capability-led hiring, with employers placing greater emphasis on practical skills, digital readiness, adaptability, accountability and critical thinking.
