The retail sector in India is recovering after the slow period of the coronavirus pandemic. In FY22, publicly traded food and lifestyle retailers in India reversed the trend of FY21 and hired more than 180,000 employees, according to a report by the Economic Times. The trend is expected to continue in FY23.
“Significant investments are being made in the retail sector. Companies are looking to use this fresh capital to shore up hiring across multiple verticals, with some startups also looking to add more brick-and-mortar stores,” Rituparna Chakraborty. ET quoted the CEO of human resources firm TeamLease.
FY21 saw widespread layoffs and minimal hiring by retail brands due to declining sales due to closures. The report stated that the total number of employees at eight of India’s leading retailers rose 57 percent to 4,90,000 in FY22. The list includes companies such as Reliance Retail, Shoppers Stop, Trent, Raymond, Bata, Titan , Avenue Supermarts and Page Industries.
Reliance Retail hired the most people in FY22, adding 1,61,000 people. In the quarter ending June 2022 (Q1FY23), the company hired 17,000 new people. Shoppers Stop was the only company to decrease staffing.
These companies are also likely to increase the demand for commercial space in the country. Across the top 8 retail businesses listed above, 16.7 million square feet of retail space is expected to be added between FY21 and FY24, according to a report by ICICI Securities.
“The sector is likely to witness 12-13 percent year-on-year revenue growth in FY23, with operating profit margins rising 150 bps to 8.2 percent,” said a report from ICRA.
The listed retailers and quick-service restaurant chains opened more than 3,000 stores in India in FY22, averaging nine stores per day, double the number in FY21.
Source: www.business-standard.com