Blue-collar jobs app Apna logs 12 mn job openings in festival season

Apna, a start-up app that helps India’s blue-collar workers find jobs, recorded 12 million openings in the September-November quarter, saying the employment demand shows the economy is lifting up after crashing in the pandemic.

Apna, which became India’s 27th unicorn this year with a valuation of more than $1 billion, said it enabled more than 37 million interviews during the festival season that quarter. It registered 5 million new users on its app from September-first week to November.

“The surge in new jobs, users and interviews we witnessed during the festive season affirms India is back on the road to recovery after a difficult year,” said Manas Singh, chief business officer of Apna.

According to Apna, hyperlocal opportunities, higher pay, and greater efficiencies led to an increase in applications for a variety of roles. ‘Jobs in demand’ on the platform were tele-callers, back-office personnel, sales executives, data entry operators, accounts, finance and marketing and business development executives. There was also demand for office assistants, delivery partners, retail professionals and drivers

Byju’s, Teamlease, and Shadowfax used Apna to hire professionals during the festive demand. Apna said it observed an increase in demand for jobs from Metro cities Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata and Tier II cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Patna and Ahmedabad.

Apna’s app comprises over 70 communities for skilled professionals like carpenters, painters, tele-callers, field sales agents and delivery personnel. Apna communities have enabled users to grow their professional networks, upskill through peer learning and find gig opportunities.

India’s gig economy has grown significantly in the past decade with the rise of technology platforms like Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Dunzo, and UrbanCompany. More than 200 million people are considered to be part of the gig workforce globally, according to a report by consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

India’s gig economy is set to triple over the next 3-4 years to 24 million jobs in the non-firm sector from the existing 8 million, according to the report.

The report estimates that the gig economy has the potential to service up to 90 million jobs in India’s non-farm economy alone, transact over $ 250 billion in the volume of work, and contribute an incremental 1.25 per cent (approximately) to India’s gross domestic product over the long term.

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