India’s festive season is expected to generate over 2.16 lakh seasonal jobs in the second half of 2025, marking a 15-20% year-on-year increase in gig and temporary employment, a report said on Wednesday.
The rise in festive hiring is being driven by sectors, including retail, ecommerce, BFSI, logistics, hospitality, travel, and FMCG, workforce solutions firm Adecco India said in the report.
Hiring activity has gained momentum in anticipation of upcoming festivals like Raksha Bandhan, Dussehra, Diwali, seasonal sales and the wedding season.
Many companies are advancing their hiring cycles to stay ahead of demand and ensure operational readiness for what is expected to be a stronger-than-usual festive period.
This year’s hiring uptick is being driven by improved consumer sentiment, a favourable monsoon boosting rural demand, post-election economic optimism, and aggressive seasonal promotions, the report stated.
This report on hiring in seasonal jobs is based on data from Adecco India’s client base, opening positions on various platforms and industry reports.
“This year’s festive season is seeing a sharper and more structured demand curve, and we have proactively prepared to meet it well in advance. Unlike previous years where hiring was largely volume-driven, employers today are equally focused on deployment speed, workforce readiness, and regional agility,” Adecco India Director and Head of General Staffing Deepesh Gupta said.
The report further revealed that metro cities such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune continue to lead in seasonal hiring demand, with 19 per cent more opportunities from last year.
At the same time, Tier II cities like Lucknow, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru, and Varanasi are witnessing a 42% increase in demand, it said, adding that there is also a growing traction in emerging hubs such as Kanpur, Kochi, and Vijayawada, indicating a broader geographic spread of festive hiring.
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Meanwhile, compensation levels are expected to rise by 12-15% in metro markets and by 18-22% in emerging cities, said the report.
The report also found a 23% rise in women’s participation in this year’s seasonal hiring wave compared to the previous year, driven by a rising preference for flexible, short-term roles.
Further, it revealed that hiring in logistics and delivery is projected to rise by 30-35% as companies scale up last-mile operations in preparation for peak festive demand.
In the BFSI sector, firms are significantly ramping up field force deployments for credit card sales and POS (point-of-sale) installations, particularly across Tier II and III cities.
The demand is, therefore, expected to grow by 30%, it added.
The hospitality and travel segments are expected to see a 20-25% increase in hiring, while ecommerce and retail will continue to dominate, accounting for 35-40% of total seasonal job creation.
The report found that employers are increasingly prioritising multilingual capabilities, customer-handling skills, and digital proficiency, especially for roles in in-store sales, credit card promotions, and delivery fulfilment.
“With deployment timelines compressed and retention rates improving steadily, seasonal hiring is no longer a stop-gap but a strategic workforce layer, particularly across digital commerce, retail, and financial services. The focus now is not just on scale, but on structured mobilisation, candidate experience, client delight, and long-term workforce integration,” Gupta added.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan
