Shaikh, who became a Delivery man for a leading e-commerce firm last week, is still learning the ropes of his new job. In fact, such is the pressure that he once had dinner at 1.30am. Yet, this father of two isn’t complaining.
As e-tailers scramble for Delivery Boys to meet the spike in festive demand — gross e-commerce sales are likely to touch Rs 9,000 crore, a 40% jump over last year — men such as Shaikh are getting temporary jobs and good perks.
Compared to his earlier gigs — delivering clothes for a laundry service for Rs 9,000/month and towing vehicles for a Malad police chowki for Rs 350/day — Shaikh can hope to get a monthly sum of Rs 11,600 in his new job plus overtime of Rs 130 per hour and Rs 5,000 as bonus at the end of his month-long contract.
Dinesh Goel, co-founder and CEO of Aasaanjobs, an HR portal for entry-level jobs, says companies are vying with each other for the limited pool of delivery boys by luring them with incentives like overtime, joining bonus and exit bonus.
‘Delivery jobs a way to earn extra money’
Dinesh Goel, co-founder and CEO of Aasaanjobs, says his firm has seen a “250-300%” jump in applications for job interviews this season from Mumbaikars. “For blue-collar workers, such temporary delivery jobs are a way to earn extra income,” says Amit Jain, VP and business head of placement agency QuikrJobs, which covers 1,200 cities in the blue-collar hiring segment.
This is why the delivery boy looks a tad different now. They are not only 10th standard passouts with twowheelers but also college students, graduates, entrepreneurs who’ve suffered business setbacks and even women.
Companies now expect these “points of contact” to have more than just a twowheeler licence. “We look for associates with communication skills and the ability to provide a good experience to customers at their doorstep,” says Akhil Saxena, VP, India Customer Fulfilment, Amazon India which has created over 22,000 “seasonal” positions across India, three times the number hired during its sale in January.
The increased workload during the festive season brings its own challenges.
“We map the delivery route in the morning but often, four clients will call saying they want the delivery early so the map changes,” says Azem Shah, 24, who delivers close to 40 items spanning shoes to clothes daily in the Ghatkopar-Vidyavihar belt.
On the upside, the Class VII dropout says his first salary at the firm was almost triple the amount he earned at a food delivery service.The demand for last-mile workers is not driven by ecommerce platforms alone.
Source : timesofindia
