CII-led skilling pipeline funnels 65,000 slum workers into India's retail, QSR and gig economy

Industry-NGO programmes mapped 50 urban slum clusters and placed 65,000 workers — including 18,300 women in 2025 — into retail, ecommerce, hospitality and platforms like Urban Company and Snabbit, easing chronic attrition and labour shortages across consumer-facing sectors in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.

— Source publishedMon, 15 Jun, 2026, 19:19 IST·First seen Mon, 15 Jun, 2026, 19:36 IST·Source BL · Consumer & Economy

What happened

CII ABVKVK · Skilling programmes by CII and NGOs are channeling urban slum workers into India's retail, ecommerce, QSR, hospitality and gig platforms like Urban

Key facts

  • 65,000 placements
  • 18,300 women placed in 2025
  • telecom 25% share
  • ecommerce 15% share
  • 50 slum clusters mapped
  • 100+ job fairs planned

Why this matters

Partnership or anchor-employer status with the CII-NGO consortium offers a low-capex moat on entry-level talent in four key metros, and is worth scoping before competitors lock in preferred-hiring rights.

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