Flipkart sails its boat against the waves by adding workforce at the time of fund crunch
Flipkart sails its boat against the waves by adding workforce at the time of fund crunch

Flipkart, one of the leading e-commerce market places, says it will ramp up hiring this year even as most other internet startups cut manpower costs amid a funding crunch.

Flipkart, which claims it got on board 900-1,000 people last year, is looking at a 20-30% additional hiring in 2017, a senior executive of the company said.

The company is primarily bulking up across three core areas of engineering, supply chain and new categories such as FMCG, groceries and furniture.

"They are also picking up specific senior-level executives to push its presence across these new categories and poaching from other companies," people privy to the development said.

Flipkart's move comes at a time when the web retailer is in advanced talks with investors to raise fresh capital as it fights for the leadership position of the Indian e-commerce market.

Last year in June, the e-tailer laid off about 700 people saying attributing it to normal annual attrition. The company's headcount has been falling over the past year or so and is down to about 8,000, although, the etailer hasn't confirmed these numbers.

Nitin Seth, COO, Flipkart, said, "Growth is back since last quarter and in line with that we are planning to add to our workforce. We are constantly expanding into newer categories to drive growth at Flipkart beyond the usual electronics, mobile fashion for which we need talent."

The new recruits would largely come with an average of 3-4 years of work experience. Flipkart had last year shut its separate grocery platform, nearby but is attempting a fresh approach to the daily essentials business.

 
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