New V5 Global report highlights Tier-2 hiring surge, rise in women’s participation, and growing demand for digital and analytics talent
New Delhi, India:
India’s retail sector is entering a phase of rapid transformation, set to
nearly double in size over the next decade while fundamentally reshaping
employment across the country, according to India’s Retail Workforce: Entering
a Decade of Disruption, a new report developed by V5 Global, a brand of
FirstMeridian Business Services Limited.
The report projects India’s retail market to expand
from US$1.18 trillion in 2025 to nearly US$2 trillion by 2030, driven by
formalization, technology adoption, and the accelerated growth of organized
retail. Retail already employs 35 million people, making it India’s
second-largest job creator, and is expected to add 25 million new jobs by the
end of the decade.
As the sector scales, workforce capability is emerging
as a defining differentiator. “India’s retail story is no longer about store
counts—it’s about skill counts,” said Manmeet Singh, CEO, FirstMeridian Global,
noting that the next decade will belong to retailers who can turn frontline
associates into experience creators while building future-ready talent.
Tier-2 Cities and Women Power the Next Wave of
Growth
One of the most significant shifts highlighted in the
report is the acceleration of hiring beyond metros. Tier-2 cities such as
Lucknow, Jaipur, Coimbatore, and Nagpur are recording over 40% hiring growth,
outpacing traditional urban centers and emerging as critical consumption and
employment hubs.
Reflecting on this trend, Amit Jain, Chief Evangelist,
FirstMeridian Global, said India’s hiring landscape is being reshaped by the
rapid rise of Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, unlocking inclusion, aspiration, and
productivity at scale. According to him, this transition marks the
democratization of India’s workforce and will power the next phase of national
growth.
Women’s participation in retail has also increased by
23%, supported by flexible schedules, gig formats, and expanding opportunities
in customer-facing roles across fashion, beauty, and e-commerce. While progress
is evident, the report notes that gender representation and wage parity remain
areas requiring sustained focus.
Digital Skills Emerge as the New Talent Bottleneck
While frontline roles will continue to account for
70–75% of retail employment, the report flags a growing demand-supply gap in
mid- and high-skill roles. Demand for analytics, CRM, omnichannel management,
and AI-led personalization is expected to grow 2.5× by 2030, even as supply
lags.
With 73% of purchase decisions digitally influenced
and e-commerce projected to reach US$325 billion by 2030, retailers are
increasingly seeking talent that blends customer engagement with data and
technology. As Mani Kumar Sharma, COO, FirstMeridian Global, observes, trade
marketing in India is entering a phase “where creativity meets data and execution
meets intelligence,” with analytics-led insights, loyalty ecosystems, and
technology-enabled engagement defining competitive advantage at the point of
sale.
Festive Hiring Becomes Strategic, Not Seasonal
The report estimates that over 2.16 lakh seasonal jobs
will be created in H2 2025, underscoring that festive hiring has evolved into a
structural workforce lever rather than a short-term spike. Retail also accounts
for 38–40% of India’s gig workforce, reinforcing its role as the backbone of flexible
employment in the digital economy.
About the Report
India’s Retail Workforce: Entering a Decade of
Disruption draws on internal workforce data, market intelligence, and
sector-level analysis across organized retail, trade marketing, logistics, and
the gig economy in India. It offers a forward-looking assessment of workforce
trends through 2030, with implications for retailers, brands, policymakers, and
talent leaders.
The full report can be accessed here: https://v5global.com/reports-files/Indias_Retail_Workforce_Entering_a_Decade_of_Disruption.pdf
About V5 Global
V5 Global, a brand under FirstMeridian Business
Services Limited, is a leading provider of retail workforce and trade marketing
solutions in India. With a strong on-ground presence across metros and Tier-2/3
markets, V5 Global works with several of the country’s most reputed consumer
and retail brands, enabling large-scale workforce deployment, capability
building, and technology-led execution across the retail value chain.
Media Contact:
FirstMeridian Global Services Pvt. Ltd.
Email: sales@firstmeridianglobal.com
Website: www.firstmeridianglobal.com