FMCG cos hire in small towns to fire up growth

• Small towns are emerging as the new big hiring zones, as consumer goods companies drive deep into the country. Companies are hiring field staff in areas like Kalpa in Himachal Pradesh, Mangaliya in Madhya Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan and Shirdi in Maharashtra to sell products as diverse as shampoos, edible oil and even pizzas.
• The triggers are a combination of a good monsoon this year, farm-loan waivers, higher disposable incomes in rural India, media penetration, low-priced unit packs of 5 and 10 and government programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
• Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever is hiring 25,000 ‘shaktimaans,’ or sales and field staff, to sell its products in nearly 1.5 lakh villages, while Dabur India intends to hire 200 ‘feet on street’ and indirect employees through its stockists in villages and small towns.
• “Our share of top line from semi-urban and rural markets is touching almost 50%. Naturally, we are looking at these consumers very closely,” says Dabur’s vice president-HR V Krishnan.