Flipkart trains SMEs and workforce in enhancing skills

The company hopes to create 20 lakh jobs, most of which will be in the logistics and warehousing sector.

E-tailing company, Flipkart, aims to create over 2 million jobs in the country, in 2015. This is four times the total jobs created by the e-commerce sector. Last year, the online retail sector had created over 5 lakh jobs.

Flipkart believes that the marketplace model has opened up opportunities in non-metro cities as well, in addition to the metros. It is estimated that 50–60 per cent of employment will be created in tier II and III cities, especially in the ancillary services. The e-tailing company forecast that the ancillary and support services industry will see a 30–40 per cent growth with SMEs increasingly adopting the online marketplace model. Cities, such as Jaipur and Baroda, have already become the ancillary industry hubs. These cities are expected to push the job market further.

In an official communique, the company predicts that sellers will play a vital role in the creation of jobs across India and sellers of home products, apparels, mobile accessories and small appliances will generate the maximum employment. In fact, the growth and expansion of their businesses will generate a minimum of 20–25 jobs per seller this year.
E-commerce empowers every artisan/entrepreneur to explore this platform to expand and grow their business. With the increase in business of local artisans, the demand for manpower will increase too.
The company suggests that 60 per cent of the employment will be generated in logistics and warehousing alone.
Ankit Nagori, senior V-P, marketplace, at Flipkart, says, “This industry has contributed a lot towards generating employment opportunities and enabling SMEs and local artisans. Sellers in our marketplace have been directly responsible for driving employment within their own communities. In fact, e-commerce support facilities like merchandising, buying, packaging and cataloguing have generated more than 75,000 jobs in the last one year.”

Flipkart offers a range of SME training programmes across 20 cities, in association with the Ministry of Labour, to train and guide interested people, helping them upgrade their skills and chart out their careers in industries that they choose to enter. The company now plans to scale this up to 40 cities in the next 6 months.

“Going by past trends, we are confident that Flipkart will generate close to 2 million jobs this year,” Nagori asserts.

In keeping with its aim to generate more employment, the Flipkart SME training programme will contribute towards generating well-trained employees for this industry. This initiative will provide training that will encourage manufacturing and create future employment.