250,000 and counting: Handsets sector sheds jobs to remain afloat

New Delhi/Mumbai: India’s handset sector has slashed over 250,000 jobs over the past two years as the rapid growth of e-commerce hurt brick-and-mortar stores and Chinese companies virtually wiped out their local rivals, industry associations said.

The cut of about 15% of the workforce comprised mainly of in-store brand promoters who were put out of work after thousands of small phone-retailing shops shut down, according to industry executives and retailers. India had about 400,000 handset retailing outlets, including mom-and-pop and large-format stores, each of which used to employ three to five in-shop brand representatives, they said.