India’s quick commerce (Q-commerce) sector has undergone a meteoric rise, transforming from a novel urban convenience to a near-essential part of everyday life. In bustling cities, the promise of groceries, meals, and daily essentials delivered within 10 to 15 minutes has rapidly become the norm. Brands like Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and others have built their identities around hyper-speed delivery models, catering to consumer demand for instant gratification. However, behind the flashy promises of ultrafast convenience lies a critical yet often overlooked truth: the growing strain on a fragile and under-supported workforce.
The TeamLease Employment Outlook Report (HY1 FY25–26) offers a sobering look at the underpinnings of this high-velocity industry. While the topline growth of Q-commerce is impressive, the labor model supporting it is showing signs of stress. Unless addressed proactively, these cracks could threaten to derail the sector’s long-term sustainability.
The Paradox of Scale: Expansion Without Stability
The rapid expansion of Q-commerce has not been matched by the creation of a stable or resilient workforce. Demand from urban consumers continues to grow, but the industry’s ability to meet this demand in a sustainable manner is limited by one of its most persistent challenges: workforce attrition.
According to the report, 31% of employers cite high attrition among gig and delivery workers as a top concern. The gig economy’s nature inherently attracts short-term workers, many of whom switch platforms frequently in pursuit of better pay or working conditions. This “platform-hopping” behavior, combined with limited career advancement opportunities and minimal job security, leads to a revolving-door effect in the workforce. Workers often view their roles as temporary rather than aspirational, which results in low levels of engagement and poor retention.
Companies, in turn, are forced into a costly and repetitive cycle of recruiting, onboarding, and retraining workers, which not only impacts their operational efficiency but also reduces their ability to deliver consistently on the 15-minute promise.
Time is Money and Risk
The core appeal of Q commerce—speed—also exposes its greatest vulnerability. In a space where seconds matter, workforce inefficiencies become glaringly problematic. The very promise that fuels Q-commerce speed is also what makes its workforce strategy precarious. With flash sales, festival surges, and hyperlocal market expansions, firms are under pressure to scale their manpower almost overnight.
The report reveals that 25% of employers identify scalability and recruitment timelines as ongoing friction points, especially during peak demand periods such as festival seasons or promotional campaigns. When delivery personnel cannot be onboarded swiftly, companies experience order delays, which hurt both customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Furthermore, 12% of employers cite punctuality and productivity of delivery workers as critical concerns, particularly in service zones promising <15-minute deliveries. In such tight windows, even small logistical hiccups—such as delayed handovers or last-mile traffic snags—can compromise delivery timelines. These factors collectively strain operations and challenge the industry’s reliability.
Rising Costs and Limited Upskilling
Another major friction point is the escalating cost of maintaining a gig-based workforce. Operating within tight timelines also requires competitive compensation to attract a steady stream of gig workers. However, rising labor costs are squeezing platform profitability. As per the report, 18% of employers struggle with balancing wage inflation against sustainable unit economics. In major metros and Tier-1 cities, rising costs for fuel, insurance, and basic pay have significantly increased the cost of last-mile fulfillment.
Despite these pressures, investment in worker development remains alarmingly low. Only 14% of companies rank skill development as a priority, which reveals a glaring mismatch between operational complexity and workforce capability. As Quick commerce becomes increasingly reliant on tech-enabled logistics—including real-time inventory management, AI-based route optimisation, and app-based customer interaction—the gap in workforce preparedness is growing. With minimal training protocols in place, many workers are ill-equipped to handle the evolving technical demands of the job, further diminishing productivity and increasing operational risk.
Expanding Gig Roles in Quick Commerce—But So Are the Risks
Interestingly, the gig economy’s footprint in Q-commerce is no longer confined to delivery functions. The TeamLease report highlights a broader trend: 64% of employers now employ gig workers in sales and customer service roles, while 51% deploy them in operations and supply chain, and 41% in technology and IT support.
This expanded use of gig workers suggests that businesses are leveraging flexible staffing models across core functions to manage costs and stay agile. However, this strategy introduces new challenges. With gig workers handling critical roles, the risk of inconsistent service quality, data mishandling, and poor customer experiences increases. These risks are exacerbated by the lack of formal training, absence of benefits, and weak performance monitoring mechanisms.
This widespread gigification also brings significant risks. Core functions that once relied on stable, full-time talent are now vulnerable to issues like inconsistent quality, variable productivity, and higher attrition rates. While gig roles offer agility and cost benefits, organizations need to address these challenges with robust training, performance management frameworks, and engagement strategies to ensure business continuity and service excellence.
Building Resilience in the Fast Lane
If India’s Quick commerce sector is to sustain its momentum, it must pivot from speed-at-any-cost to speed with structure. This means rethinking workforce architecture from treating gig workers as expendable to viewing them as critical partners in delivery success.
If India’s Quick commerce ecosystem is to move from a phase of experimental growth to one of sustained success, the focus must shift from “speed at all costs” to “speed with structure.” This shift requires a fundamental rethinking of workforce strategy—treating gig workers not as expendable assets but as essential partners in value delivery.
Key steps toward this transformation include:
- Modular and digital training programs that equip gig workers with the technical and soft skills required for performance in dynamic environments.
- Performance-linked incentive structures that reward consistency, punctuality, and quality service.
- Clear career pathways for high-performing gig workers to transition into more permanent or specialized roles, thereby improving retention and engagement.
- AI-driven hiring platforms and predictive staffing tools that streamline recruitment, improve worker matching, and forecast labor needs based on historical demand patterns.
- Skill certification programs that validate competencies and increase accountability across the workforce.
Conclusion: Speed Alone Is Not Enough
India’s Quick commerce industry has changed the way urban consumers shop, eat, and live. But the sector’s continued success hinges not just on delivery speed or market penetration—it will depend on how well companies can build a resilient, skilled, and motivated workforce behind the scenes.
As consumer expectations grow and competition intensifies, businesses that invest in workforce stability and development will gain a decisive edge. After all, in the race for ultrafast delivery, the real differentiator may not be how quickly you can move, but how strongly you can stand.
