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As India enters the festive season, companies across sectors are increasing their hiring efforts as 70 per cent of employers have indicated strong intent to hire freshers during the festive period, a report said on Thursday. 

The hiring is not limited only to traditional frontline and delivery roles, but also to digitally enabled seasonal positions.

"Tech startups and e-commerce firms lead this surge with 88 per cent fresher hiring intent, underscoring that entry-level roles now demand digital readiness," TeamLease said in its report.

Companies are considering digital skills as the core requirement for employability. Nearly 75.9 per cent of employers now mandate technical proficiency even for seasonal roles, the report noted.

Workers proficient in digital platforms, inventory systems, and AI-based order management are more likely to secure repeat contracts.

“Festive hiring is no longer about just filling seats; it’s about finding talent that can navigate digital tools, platforms, and AI-enabled systems. The festive season creates unique spikes in demand, and workers with digital skills are best positioned to capitalise on these opportunities,” said Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO, TeamLease EdTech.

Meanwhile, demand for gig and short-term workers is rising, driven by sectors like e-commerce, logistics, and customer support.

According to the report, tier 2 and 3 cities are seeing the fastest growth in digitally-enabled hiring.

Beyond traditional festive jobs, employers are also hiring for prompt engineers, process automation analysts, and data marketing executives to manage AI-driven customer engagement and festive trend analysis, the report highlighted.

Additionally, two out of three festive gig workers view short-term roles as a pathway to permanent employment.

Companies are investing in short-term training programs focused on E-commerce platform operation, AI tool literacy, customer service automation and digital process optimisation.

The surge in digitally skilled festive hiring signals a permanent evolution in India’s workforce structure. As technology reshapes even temporary employment, digital proficiency is no longer a differentiator; it’s a baseline, the report said.