Gig Economy Takes Hit This IPL Season Amid LPG Supply Constraints, ETRetail
New Delhi: Restaurants and food delivery platforms that typically step up hiring of temporary workers during the Indian Premier League season are taking a cautious approach this time, according to staffing firms and job portals.
Disruptions in LPG supply amid the Gulf war have led restaurants and cloud kitchens to limit menus, reduce working hours and a few to even shut operations. The business of food delivery platforms depends entirely on restaurants and cloud kitchens being operational. These supply-side constraints mean that demand from crickfans who skip cooking to watch the IPL is unlikely to be fully met, said industry experts. This situation is reshaping hiring patterns. While gig worker onboarding at food delivery companies and restaurants has slowed, quick commerce platforms continue to hire aggressively, they said.
Hiring is “more measured this year”, with steady demand in delivery and quick commerce roles but a cautious approach in kitchen and service hiring due to LPG-related disruptions, said Balasubramanian A, senior vice-president at TeamLease Services, whose operations include supply of gig workers. “Overall hiring is more selective rather than broad-based this season,” he said. Some demand is shifting towards quick commerce as consumers opt for ready-to-eat items during match hours.
Aditya Narayan Mishra, chief executive at CIEL HR, said there is a “marginal softening in incremental hiring”-an around 10% dip compared with a typical IPL season. He blamed limited supply capacity, not lack of demand, for this situation.
Food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy and restaurant operators that ET contacted did not respond to requests for comment.
The IPL 2026 season begins Saturday, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad.
RP Yadav, chairman at Genius HR Tech, said gig worker demand was 20-25% higher in the run up to the IPL compared with last season, but mostly for quick commerce roles. Hiring is becoming more selective as many kitchens are operating at reduced capacity, cutting menus, or limiting operating hours, he said.
Turn Headline: Shift in Workforce Demand
This has led to a visible shift in workforce demand. While delivery, warehouse and customer-facing roles continue to see traction, backend kitchen hiring is relatively muted this year, in contrast to previous IPL seasons where both segments expanded in tandem, he said.Data from jobs platform Apna.co underline this trend. While job postings in delivery and logistics grew sharply-up about 65% between February 2025 and February 2026-the typical IPL-linked surge in March has weakened. Delivery postings fell 10.2% month-on-month this March, compared with a 65.7% rise in the same period last year.
KITCHENS LOSING STEAM
A similar pattern is visible in hospitality roles. Restaurant and hospitality postings declined 8.1% in March 2026 versus a 20.5% increase in March 2025, with cook and chef roles dropping by 21%, suggesting kitchens are not ramping up capacity as aggressively this season.
“The Feb-March ramp up, which typically signals the IPL-driven surge, is showing moderation in 2026 compared to 2025, likely influenced by supply-side disruptions,” said Kartik Narayan, chief executive, jobs marketplace, at Apna.co, pointing to LPG shortage due to the West Asia conflict.
The impact is also being felt on the ground in terms of worker utilisation and earnings.
“With many kitchens operating below capacity, delivery riders and kitchen-linked staff are experiencing reduced order density and higher idle time,” Yadav said. This is resulting in uneven earnings and dynamic shift allocation across roles.
Staffing firms estimate that average orders per rider for food delivery will remain volatile during peak match hours, with earnings under pressure due to lower order volumes and longer waiting times at restaurants. Incentive increases, typically a feature of IPL hiring, are also more muted this year, with an expected rise of 5-10% compared with sharper spikes in previous seasons.
The IPL continues to behave like a “short-term season” for the hospitality sector, driving consumption spikes of up to 40% on major match days, said Shailesh Khanna, business head at ManpowerGroup India. However, he noted that while gig demand remains strong, “supply is unpredictable”, creating a tighter labour market and limiting hiring expansion.
