One of India’s largest flexi-staffing companies — TeamLease Services Ltd — with more than 2.5 lakh employees on its rolls, says hiring in several key sectors like e-commerce, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail, IT and telecom sectors has been red-hot. Flexi or temporary staffing companies like TSL and Quess Corp are canaries in a coal mine — they are the lead indicators of what is happening in the economy, serving as a springboard in good times and as shock absorbers during bad ones.

Ashok Reddy, Co-founder and Managing Director of TeamLease Services, said, “We’ve seen quite aggressive demand that is coming in from various sectors. Obviously e-commerce has been a big driver of the boost. Telecom investments have been happening and this has come into play. Then there is retail — BFSI has been on a rebound. Manufacturing has its ups and downs and so on. It’s been more broad-based growth, but all corporates seem quite robust about their (hiring) outlook.”

Limited third wave impact

Stating that when the first wave of Covid hit there was individual uncertainty and most corporates were focussed on cutting costs and surviving, Reddy said that by wave two, the focus had shifted to (ensuring) livelihoods. TeamLease says that during the second wave, most corporates deferred plans but did not cancel them. By wave three, corporates didn’t even hiccup.

“Whether the (Ukraine) war tempers down the element of business plans, is (yet) to be seen. But I think wave three has not been a dampener to business spirits. Certain sectors have been more aggressive for growth,” Reddy added. He, however, pointed out that sectors like travel, hospitality, and tourism in general are yet to see a full bounce back, but declaimed that “they are not large volume drivers for (TeamLease) business”.

One-stop hiring pool

As the economy increasingly shifts from informal to formal and labour laws become more liberal, most sectors of the economy are turning to staffing companies like TeamLease and Quess Corp to fulfil their manpower needs.

TeamLease, for instance, works with more than 3,500 customers from Fortune 500 companies to fast growing SME’s in 60-plus industry segments across 28 states. From providing accountants, sales and marketing personnel, service and repair technicians, to maintenance staff and manufacturing personnel, these staffing companies are a one-stop shop for companies looking to hire without the challenges of having to scout and manage them. TeamLease today counts the likes of Microsoft, LG Electronics, BASF India, ICICI Lombard, Du Pont India and Levis amongst its customers.

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