With the startup boom and the flourish of e-commerce companies, many had found jobs in the online delivery segment. However, the startup bubble seems to have burst, and amid the pressure from the investors, and the struggle to establish a customer base, online e-commerce companies are now facing a new dilemma.
Return of E-Commerce Delivery Staff to QSRs
Thousands of delivery boys, who had left fast food chains like Dominos, KFC, and McDonald’s to deliver goods from the sprouting e-commerce companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal, are now looking to return to their previous jobs. And it is not just the ex-employees who are re-applying. People with e-commerce backgrounds are applying to the logistic companies as well. With long working hours, the high pressure of the frequent ‘sale days’, and the health consequences of carrying heavy bags, delivery boys are now going back to the big fast food chains.
Earlier some e-commerce companies were paying about Rs 30,000 per month plus incentives, which had lured the delivery persons to ferry goods around. However, as the VC fundings are drying up, the compensation of these delivery boys has also been reduced to Rs 300-400 per day. Adding to this, there is also the fear of layoffs.
“In Mumbai, those who had rejoined, said that backache (from lifting heavy bags) was the key trigger for their exit, while in south India, delivery boys and their managers who had left us want to join back as they found the frequent big (sale) days a challenge,” said Biplob Banerjee, executive vice president for HR at Jubilant FoodWorks.
As per the human resource service provider Team Lease, there has been a definite shift in trend. About 10,000 delivery boys who have joined e-commerce startups are now looking to shift to logistics companies.
“They want to get back to companies with reasonable working hours and less pressure on achieving numbers,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, senior vice president at TeamLease. “They want to work in a predictable environment even if it means a compromise on fixed pay.”
The number of delivery orders is also limited to reduce the pressure on the delivery staff. With fixed pay, and decent incentives food delivery once again seems lucrative. Most of the delivery persons are outsourced from third-party firms.
Source: ET Retail
