Demand for delivery staff to surge as Cricket World Cup kicks in from October 5

Companies in food, grocery and ecommerce deliveries are ramping up hiring of temporary workers, anticipating a sharp increase in orders during the upcoming cricket world cup.

Many working professionals are likely to stay home to watch the World Cup, especially on days of key matches, and order food and daily essentials online. With the cricket tournament coinciding with the usually busy festive season, executives at companies like Swiggy, Zepto and Ecom Express, as well as recruitment services providers, said they are expecting hiring of temporary staff such as delivery personnel to increase by 20% to as much as 100% in some cases, compared with a normal period.

India is hosting the 2023 men’s one-day Cricket World Cup, which is set to start on October 5. The final match is scheduled for November 19.

The festive mood and advertising drive, plus events like the World Cup that offer hangouts for friends and colleagues, lead to a spike in orders, said Lohit Bhatia, president, workforce management, at staffing services company Quess. The increase in orders can be anywhere from 25% to nearly 100% on critical days like the finals, said Bhatia.

Teams at Swiggy will be “diligently managing” peak-time orders with delivery partners, Sidharth Bhakoo, vice president and national business head at Swiggy, told ET. Anticipating a fantastic season, we'll keep introducing exciting ways to engage with our users," he said.

“We will be hiring more executives ahead of the upcoming World Cup season,” said a spokesperson for quick-ecommerce grocery delivery platform Zepto.

Events of the magnitude of the World Cup have a direct positive impact on deliveries of food, groceries and items from ecommerce companies, experts told ET.

“There is anyway an increase in online shopping/home delivery of food and other items during a big sporting event like the World Cup as people prefer to stay home to watch the match. This time adding to this is the good performance of the Indian team,” Sonal Arora, country manager, Gi Group Holding said. Gi Group is seeing a 20-25% increase in hiring from clients in this space.

There will also be an increased demand for TV sets, high-speed internet connections, OTT subscriptions, and online ticket sales, according to Aditya Mishra, chief executive, CIEL HR Services. “The ripple effect will also be felt in travel, aviation, hospitality, and tourism,” said Mishra. As a result, CIEL is seeing a surge in manpower requirements, particularly at the entry-level, by up to 20%.

The Cricket World Cup in India is almost synonymous with a festival, said Viswanath PS, managing director and CEO at Randstad India.

“Given that the Cricket World Cup this year is being hosted in India, we definitely expect a significant uptick of around 12-15% in demand for temp staff and 18-20% in demand for gig workers in ecommerce and food delivery over the next two months,” he said.

Delivery workers may also be encouraged to take on double shifts, maximising their availability during peak match times, said experts.

Some of the key matches for the men in blue in the group stage are against Australia on October 8 in Chennai, Pakistan on October 14 in Ahmedabad, New Zealand on October 22 in Dharamshala and England on October 29 in Lucknow.