Flipkart aims to generate 20 lakh jobs in 2015

New Delhi: Domestic eCommerce major Flipkart today said it will generate over 20 lakh jobs through its marketplace and ancillary services this year.

The Bangalore-based firm expects 60 per cent of this employment to be generated in the logistics and warehousing sector. "Sellers on our marketplace have been directly responsible for driving employment within their own communities. In fact, e-commerce support facilities like merchandizing, buying, packaging and cataloging have generated more than 75,000 jobs in the last one year," Flipkart Senior Vice President (Marketplace) Ankit Nagori said in a statement.

Going by past trends, Flipkart is confident that it will "generate close to two million jobs this year", he added.

The rapid development of the e-commerce ecosystem in India will contribute towards the generation of employment across sectors. Last year, over half a million jobs are estimated to have been created in the e-commerce space.

Flipkart said the marketplace model has opened up opportunities in metros and non-metro cities. "This year, nearly 50-60 per cent of employment will be created in tier II and III cities. For instance, cities like Jaipur and Baroda have already become the ancillary industry hubs (cataloging and packaging) and they will continue to generate more opportunities in the future," Flipkart said.

Sellers will also play a vital role in creation of jobs across India - sellers of home products, apparels, mobile accessories and small appliances will generate the maximum employment, it added. The growth and expansion of their businesses will generate a minimum of 20-25 jobs per seller this year, it said.

Flipkart said it is offering a range of SME training programmes across 20 cities in association with Ministry of Labour to train and guide interested people. These programmes, which is aimed at helping people upgrade their skills, will be scaled to 40 cities in the next six months, Flipkart said. Launched in October 2007, Flipkart has 30,000 sellers and over three crore registered customers.

It has tied up with various government bodies like FISME, DGET, NIFT, Ministry of Labour, and DC Handlooms to open up the e-commerce marketplace model to the Indian micro industries.