‘More companies to go the flexi way in hiring’

ISF members provide industry workforce on a temporary basis.

Healthcare, IT, pharma, edtech and e-commerce sectors will be hiring more flexi staff in the second half of the current fiscal, the Indian Staffing Federation (ISF) said.

“Basis survey respondents, the next five hiring sectors will be logistics, insurance, manufacturing, FMCG and banking,” ISF, an umbrella body of the domestic staffing firms, said in a report based on a survey among its more than 100 member companies.

ISF members provide industry workforce on a temporary basis.

According to ISF’s report, “Flexi Staffing Employment Trends: 2021”, its members saw a decline in headcount in the first quarter of the last fiscal, but staged a sharp rise since then. This shows the recovery of corporate India and agility of staffing companies towards Covid-proof sectors, the report said.

ISF said the flexi staffing industry’s strength grew by a modest 3.6% to a little over one million in 2020-21 compared with 13.7% in the previous fiscal and 16.3% in 2018-19.

In 2020-21, there had been an overall net addition of 1.57 lakh people into the flexi workforce. Women participation in the flexi workforce grew by 6% during the pandemic, but it declined 4% for men. Most opportunities for flexi staff last year moved from outdoor sales to essential delivery services.

“This growth reiterated the resilience of Indian staffing industry, its customers and maturity and that it will continue to be India’s key job creation engine,” said ISF president Lohit Bhatia.

“With an over 31% growth in flexi work compared to other formats of employment, this report not only shows the maturity of the growing acceptance of formal contract employment options, but also the fact that when the focus to ensure social protection is provided, it can turn around the employment scenario of the country,” said ISF’s executive director Suchita Dutta.