Amazon India says it will add 50,000 temp roles but where are the migrant workers to take up the jobs?

Bengaluru/New Delhi: E-commerce major Amazon India on Friday said it will add 50,000 ‘seasonal’ or temporary roles to meet the surge in online demand for products.

The 50,000 seasonal roles will be across its warehousing and delivery network, and the move comes at a time when economic activities and e-commerce operations are slowly chugging back to life outside containment zones, as the country eyes a staggered exit from lockdown, with fewer curbs.

The opening of seasonal roles at Amazon India also comes amid the spate of layoffs by tech-led companies like Swiggy, Zomato, ShareChat, Ola and some others over the past few days.

“Amazon India today announced that it has opened close to 50,000 seasonal roles to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service, particularly those most vulnerable to being out in public.

“This will be a variety of roles in their fulfilment centres and delivery network including part-time flexible work opportunities as independent contractors with Amazon Flex,” the company said in a statement.

They will join other thousands of associates across Amazon India’s fulfilment and delivery network and assist them to pick, pack, ship and deliver customers’ orders more efficiently, while people continue to practise physical distancing, it said.

The company has made almost 100 significant process changes in operations for the safety of workers which include mandatory face covering, daily temperature checks in buildings, increased frequency and intensity of cleaning at all sites including regular sanitisation of frequently touched areas, and awareness-building among associates on safety requirements around hand-washing and hand sanitisation, the company said.

After nearly two months of stringent movement curbs to combat the spread of coronavirus pandemic, consumers have resumed online shopping and are placing orders for items like laptops, ACs, and fridges in red zones that have now been allowed to ship orders of nonessential items under the liberal rules set for lockdown 4.0.

E-commerce companies like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal were earlier this week allowed to ship all items across the country (except containment zones).

While orders are scaling up now, the sector continues to face the challenge of availability of limited manpower for warehouses and delivery, prompting the likes of Amazon to bring in seasonal workers.

Grocery delivery platforms like BigBasket and Grofers have also scaled up hiring to meet the increased demand.

However, food delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy have announced laying off over 1,600 employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.