E-pharmacies ramp up hiring as orders grow two-fold amid Covid-19 lockdown

Hampered by an acute shortage of manpower, especially for last-mile delivery and managing warehouses, online pharmacies are looking to hire aggressively to cater to the rising demand, especially after the nationwide lockdown to contain spread of Covid-19 was extended till May 3.

Most firms operating in the space claim that they have seen at least a two-fold rise in orders as compared to other times.

Gurugram-based 1mg, for example, is looking to immediately hire 500 people and another 1,000 over the next 2-3 months. Bengaluru-headquartered Medlife is working towards filling up 400 vacancies, mostly for last-mile deliveries and warehouse management. PharmEasy, which claims to be running at 35-40 per cent lower capacity in terms of manpower, is also hiring people for last-mile deliveries. The Mumbai-based company says it has seen at least a 50 per cent increase in demand recently.