New avenues for earning to open during Diwali and Chhath; 2.5 lakh people to get jobs..

According to a report by NLB Services, a global technology and digital talent solutions company, hiring during the festive season is expected to rise by 15–20 percent. The report notes that as the country enters the festive season, businesses in sectors such as e-commerce, quick commerce, retail, logistics, hospitality, travel, and consumer services are gearing up for the year's peak demand period.

The festive season is evolving into a real-time stress test for India's workforce; employers are initiating hiring early, looking beyond traditional talent hubs, and placing greater reliance on technology-enabled, flexible talent ready to hit the ground running.

What was once merely a short-term response to seasonal demand is now becoming a strategic opportunity to tap into new talent pools, assess capabilities at scale, and create pathways for long-term employment. Varun Sachdeva, SVP and APAC Head at NLB Services, stated that the impact of festive hiring could well extend beyond the season itself. The report draws on industry trends, employer sentiment, and actual job postings during the festive period to estimate the potential volume of seasonal and gig jobs.

Where is the highest demand for jobs coming from?
According to the report, employers begin workforce planning approximately 12–14 weeks prior to the peak festive season. This allows them to build talent pools in advance and alleviates the pressure of large-scale hiring within a tight timeframe. As demand becomes increasingly concentrated within a short window, workforce preparedness is emerging as a competitive advantage. The report states that seasonal requirements will remain significant across last-mile delivery, warehousing and fulfillment, retail sales, customer experience, inventory management, field operations, and hospitality. New-age operational roles are expected to see a 15–20% increase; these include positions such as dark-store inventory controllers, returns and refund specialists, customer resolution executives, marketplace operations professionals, fraud and transaction support staff, catalog management executives, and order management specialists.

Even roles traditionally viewed as purely operational are increasingly relying on digital platforms, data, automation, and real-time decision-making capabilities. Festive hiring is also expanding geographically; approximately 45% of the total hiring demand is expected to originate from Tier II and III cities, with a projected 25–30% increase in hiring within these markets. The expansion of e-commerce, quick commerce, organized retail, and regional fulfillment networks is driving demand in cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Surat, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, and Kochi.

**Freshers and Women: Key Talent Pools**
The report reveals that the festive workforce is becoming increasingly inclusive and geographically diverse. Freshers, first-time job seekers, and women are emerging as a vital talent pool, benefiting from flexible shifts, jobs closer to home, and organized temporary employment. Across several categories, women from non-metro locations could account for 30–35% of new female hires, indicating that festive demand is creating employment opportunities beyond the traditional urban talent pool.

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