Temporary recruitment in India is projected to rise by up to 20% during the 2026 festive season, with a shift towards targeted skills, higher pay, and increased regional and sectoral diversity, as companies adapt to more complex supply chains and online-offline integration.
Temporary hiring in India is set to rise 15% to 20% during the 2026 festive season as retailers, e-commerce groups, quick commerce operators, logistics firms and consumer goods makers step up recruitment to cope with stronger demand, according to TeamLease Services’ Festive Season Workforce Report 2026.
The report suggests the hiring surge is becoming more targeted than in earlier years. Rather than simply adding large numbers of workers, employers are increasingly looking for frontline staff with specific skills as they prepare for a longer shopping season, tighter delivery timelines and more complex online-offline customer journeys.
TeamLease based its findings on anonymised employment records of 60,000 frontline associates deployed across consumer durables, organised retail, e-commerce, quick commerce, logistics and fast-moving consumer goods. The company said businesses are also paying closer attention to incentives, digital onboarding and workforce readiness to improve execution during the peak period.
Pay is expected to move higher as well. The report forecasts frontline salaries will climb 8% to 10% in the second half of 2026, while effective take-home pay is likely to rise 5% to 8%, partly because of changes linked to labour law requirements.
The workforce is also getting younger. TeamLease said the median age fell to 26.7 years in the second half of 2025 from 28.2 years a year earlier, while the gender split remained broadly stable at about 85% men and 15% women. Hiring momentum is expected to be strongest in southern and western India, with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad emerging as key markets. Tier I cities are projected to account for 40.5% of frontline workers in 2026, up from 38.2% in 2025 and 33.1% in 2024, as dark stores and hyperlocal fulfilment networks expand. Tier II cities are expected to make up 26.5% and tier III markets 33%, reflecting continued growth beyond the metros.
Warehouse pickers, packers and dark-store staff are likely to remain the biggest hiring categories, followed by in-store promoters, retail associates, cashiers and store operations executives. Demand is also rising for more specialised roles such as inventory and fulfilment co-ordinators, warehouse automation operators and returns management executives, underscoring how festive hiring is increasingly shaped by supply-chain complexity rather than headcount alone.
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