FMCG firms invest heavily in digital roles

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FMCG firms invest heavily in digital roles

With the FMCG industry experiencing a rapid change, the focus is on using digital platforms and social media to get the product to consumers. The firms are hiring more people for roles related to digital marketing, performance marketing, omni-channel specialists and social media experts, data science, data analytics, user interface and experience design, fintech and payment gateways, information security, and information security, according to experts.

According to the recruitment firm, the trend has led to an increase in hiring for automated warehousing, inventory management, website application design development, data analytics, artificial intelligence-powered customer support and IoT.

He said that at least 1,50, 000 -- 2,00, 000 jobs will be created by the year 2023, with the FMCG industry operating at 85 per cent of their pre-Covid levels post-digitalisation.

As we focus our focus on digital transformation, the roles we are hiring for most are getting more specific, according to the CEO of Marico CHRO Amit Prakash. We are hiring for a lot of roles because we recognize the importance of reaching the consumers directly.

A number of legacy FMCG brands have been buying D 2 C brands. The mode of selling, where online brands deliver products directly to consumers through their own websites, apps and e-commerce channels, has gained a lot of attention from investors, with the D 2 C start-ups attracting more than $2 billion in venture capital funding between January 2020 and June 2021.

The legacy firms have traditionally used a network of physical sales and distribution channels to get their products stocked across stores in the country, and sales roles account for the largest portion of their hires. Even within sales, digital-focused roles are on the rise, according to firms.

In FMCG, there has been more than 30 per cent increase in the hiring of tech positions in the past 3 -- 4 months compared to how much they were hiring last year. There is a 5 -- 10 per cent increase for non-tech positions. In terms of net volumes, hiring maybe lower for tech roles than sales, but it is much more than in previous years, said Shetty, head of Randstad India.

Its global CHRO Amit Chincholikar said that nearly 50 per cent of our new hiring will be in areas such as marketing and brand, various sales channels, including D 2 C and e-commerce as well as digital. He said that the firm is investing heavily in digital roles because of the fact that the hiring for digital roles will span functions and seniority levels. The parent of the millet-based breakfast cereal company Soulfull was acquired for Rs 155 crore earlier this year.