Blinkit, which is owned by Zomato, has changed its employee contracts to help keep its workers. The company delivers goods quickly and has made a rule that some employees, especially those in important positions, now need to give two months' notice before leaving their jobs instead of having no notice. This change is meant to stop other companies from easily taking their workers away.

Media reports say that Blinkit's decision to change the notice period was influenced by strong competition from companies like Zepto and Flipkart, which have a lot of money. By making the notice period longer, Blinkit hopes to make it harder for these companies to attract their workers with tempting job offers.

 

Blinkit faces talent war

 

Sources say that Blinkit decided to extend the notice period because quick delivery companies are competing for both customers and employees. The quick commerce industry, which includes companies like Zepto, Flipkart, and Swiggy, is growing quickly and expanding their services. This makes it a great place for skilled workers to find jobs.

In July, Zomato introduced this new notice period rule for Blinkit workers. Since then, competition in the industry has become stronger. Zepto raised $340 million to grow its business, Flipkart started and expanded its "Flipkart Minutes" service for fast deliveries, and Swiggy got approval for a big initial public offering (IPO), which is when a company sells shares to the public for the first time.

To prevent company information from getting into the hands of competitors, it has put some extra rules in place. If they know an employee is going to work for a rival company, they might put that employee on "garden leave" for two months, which means the employee stays home but is still officially employed. In some cases, they might let the employee go right away instead of having them continue working.

The quick delivery industry has grown a lot in the past year, with big companies expanding what they do and selling more types of products. At first, these companies mainly delivered groceries, but now they also offer things like electronics, beauty products, pet care items, toys, and household appliances. They are doing this to meet the increasing demands of customers.

Because Blinkit has added these new products, its sales have grown a lot. In the first three months of FY25, it's total sales jumped by 130%, reaching INR 4,923 crore, up from INR 2,140 crore in the same time last year. The number of Blinkit’s dark stores, places where they keep products for quick delivery, has also gone up. Right now, Blinkit has 639 dark stores, and they plan to increase that number to 2,000 by the end of 2026.

A report by CLSA, a brokerage firm, says that the total sales of top quick delivery companies like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart are expected to reach $10 billion by the year FY26. This is because these companies are growing and starting to offer their services in smaller cities in India. It wants to keep making profits while it grows quickly, which is a challenge that all its competitors in the fast delivery industry are also facing.