E-commerce rules: Snapdeal, Flipkart are now favourites of engineering, B-school grads

New Delhi: Engineering and B-school graduates are opting for jobs in the e-commerce industry over sectors like FMCG, consulting, financial services and infrastructure, according to a poll by Assocham.

“The number of intakes by the e-commerce sector from the various B-schools and engineering colleges has gone up by 65% this season over last year (35%),” Assocham secretary general D S Rawat said.

The survey sample included over 500 students from various B-schools, including IIMs, BITS, ICFAI Business School and Symbiosis Institute of International Business (Pune). The survey was conducted between September and October 2014.

Over 71% respondents preferred e-commerce sector and even aspire to become first-generation successful entrepreneurs by investing in the sector, the survey said.

The e-commerce industry has experienced unprecedented growth with its total revenue increasing over 60 times between 2010 and 2014.

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“More and more pass-outs from B-Tech and MBA graduates are flocking to e-commerce industry over highly leveraged sectors like FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), consulting, financial services, services jobs, telecom, real estate, power and other infrastructure,” Assocham said.

Nearly 3 million Indians work in the e-commerce sector, whereas 18 million jobs are created in other sectors as a result of e-commerce operations like marketing, IT, logistics and payment services.

“India is successful in becoming the largest e-commerce market in the world. The rapid transformation in logistics, innovation, consumerism and productivity prove to be an interesting case study for other emerging economies,” Rawat said.

“The hiring activities are expected to grow by over 60-65 per cent in this sector and may help create between 5-8 lakh employment opportunities in three to five years,” he added.

E-commerce companies are offering nearly around Rs 10-25 lakh annual package, higher than the average starting salary of Rs 4-7 lakh in the private sector for fresh engineering graduates and others, the poll showed.

The survey also revealed that fresher packages are around Rs 2-3.5 lakh per annum for roles like customer service representatives but for other management and technical roles, the starting package would be anywhere between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 14 lakh per annum.

Estimated to be a $3 billion segment, the Indian e-commerce sector has been growing at a massive pace with players like Snapdeal and Flipkart raising funds from a range of investors. Also, world’s largest online retailer Amazon has committed investment of $2 billion in the country over the next few years.

A report by consulting firm Technopak pegs the $2.3 billion e-tailing market to reach $32 billion size by 2020.

PTI