STAFF SHORTAGE DURING COVID 19 DUE TO INCREASE IN

ONLINE SALES: STRATEGIC RECRUITMENT PROJECT FOR

AMAZON

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 Abstract

Outline: The report has mainly provided information regarding the issues that are causing issues
in Amazon India. Vast information regarding the issues has been provided in this research. An
in-depth analysis of the issues has been done for a better understanding of the research issues.
Furthermore, aims and objects have been provided aligning with the issues for better structuring
of the research.

Approach: This research has employed a quantitative study through inclusion of deductive
approach to ensure accuracy in research results by exploring the casual relationship between the
study and its variables.

Methodology and investigatory methods: By following the quantitative method, positivism

philosophy was employed to explore factual knowledge about the extent of labour shortage in
Amazon as well as potential recruitment strategies to deal with the situation. Descriptive design
was followed to describe this phenomenon as accurately as possible. In addition, document
review and content analysis in light of thematic analysis were the two methods assigned to data
collection and analysis work.

Findings: In the Literature review section, the inclusion of the relevant theories has been done
for signifying the drastic deterioration of the employee engagement in the online functionality of
Amazon during the pandemic scenario. Moreover, the significant strategies for the effective
hiring process have been identified in this section for reflecting the effectiveness of the
scrutinisation process done by Amazon in India by enhancing the employment factor.

The major finding of this research was to identify the resonance of the drastic degrading
frequency of the employee shortage factor in India. The significance of Amazon has dynamically
helped to identify the importance and stages of the recruitment process in terms of enhancing the
employment in India through drastic accomplishing of the online sales program in terms of
evaluating the regressive action in the sales activity

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 Table of Contents

1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................5

1.1 Background of the study........................................................................................................5

1.2 Problem statement..................................................................................................................6

1.3 Aims and objectives...............................................................................................................7

1.4 Research Question..................................................................................................................7

1.5 Report structure......................................................................................................................8

1.6 Justification for methods........................................................................................................9

1.7 Summary................................................................................................................................9

2. Literature review........................................................................................................................10

2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................10

2.2 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................11

2.3 Concept of the strategic employee hiring process...............................................................12

2.4 Theories related to the study................................................................................................13

2.4.2 Critical contact theory...................................................................................................14

2.5 Paradigm of employee retention in post-pandemic situation...............................................14

2.5.1 Hiring professional and skilled employees for handling online sales...........................14

2.5.2 Analyzing the personality traits due to staff shortage...................................................14

2.5.3 Scrutinizing key factors for staff stability during manpower shortage.........................15

2.5.4 Importance of strategic recruitment process.................................................................15

2.6 Tools and techniques for hiring employees.........................................................................15

2.7 Significance of employee motivation for enhancing the online marketing in a post-
pandemic situation.....................................................................................................................17

2.8 Reason for employee shortages due to increasing online sales...........................................18

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 2.9 Importance of strategic recruitment process in Amazon for enhancing productivity in
online marketing........................................................................................................................18

2.10 Gap in literature.................................................................................................................19

2.11 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................19

3. Method and implementation......................................................................................................20

3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................20

3.2 Research onion.....................................................................................................................20

3.3 Logical connections between project elements and methodology.......................................21

3.4 Epistemological position and methodological issues...........................................................22

3.5 Methodological approach, methods, and design..................................................................23

3.6 Data collection and analysis method....................................................................................24

3.7 The critical explanation for the rejection of other methods.................................................25

3.8 Critical discussion about ethics............................................................................................25

3.9 Summary..............................................................................................................................26

4. Project Interventions..................................................................................................................27

4.2 Narratives of Project............................................................................................................27

4.3 Timeline and Schedule.........................................................................................................29

4.5 Project budget......................................................................................................................30

4.6 Reflection.............................................................................................................................31

Reference List................................................................................................................................33

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 List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Sales increase in Amazon from 2014 to 2022...............................................................7
Figure 1.2: Report structure.............................................................................................................9
Figure 3.2 Research onion.............................................................................................................21
Figure 3.5 Methodological approach, methods, and design..........................................................24
Table 1: Project budget..................................................................................................................32

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1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

The global pandemic has affected differently in different businesses. During the pandemic, the
most common issue that businesses have faced is issues in their sales. On the other hand, retail
and E-commerce businesses such as Amazon have faced issues in their employee management
and retaining employees. It has been observed that during the pandemic, the sales of Amazon
have increased due to the increasing demand for online purchases among consumers. As per the
suggestion of Clemente-Suárez et al. (2022), it can be said that most employees around the globe
have faced health issues that have led business organisations to employee shortages. Due to the
employee shortage, businesses have faced issues in their operation. Large organisations such as
Amazon need huge numbers of employee support to deal with the increased demand for online
products.
There are various departments that are associated with the sales of products on Amazon.
Employees need to maintain a number of operations for the sales of any products. Thus, it is
highly crucial that Amazon needs to recruit a large number of employees to support its sales. As
suggested by Boiral et al. (2021), recruiting employees and implementing strategic measures to
retain employees in the organisation will help them to complete their operations properly and
fulfil consumer demands. Thus, it can be said that Appropriate strategies such as recruitment
strategies must be adopted for better employee retention. Khalifa et al. (2020) have mentioned
that the most important impact of the pandemic is health issues among humans. Any person who
is affected by the Covid-19 virus has to go for a complete quarantine for 14 days. Furthermore, it
has been observed that the immune systems were impacted that have caused huge health issues
among employees. Browning et al. (2022) have further mentioned that Amazon was only
accepting online payments during the pandemic and have almost stopped the “Cash on delivery”
option. This has led the organization into huge trouble as the employees who were working
offline for the transaction purpose have lost their jobs. This has further resulted in a lack of
employees to improve the overall technical department. The organisation has faced issues in
hiring employees for that role (Chen and Biswas, 2021). Thus, this research will further assist the

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organisation to implement appropriate strategies and improve the overall situation of employee
shortage.

1.2 Problem statement

Figure 1.1: Sales increase in Amazon from 2014 to 2022

(Source: Statista, 2022)
The major issue that Amazon faced during the pandemic was a shortage of employees during
increasing sales. The primary reason behind this was the highly contagious Covid-19 disease that
caused infection among hundreds of Amazon employees and due to prolonged isolation periods,
they were unable to work. On the other hand, with growing demand in the e-commerce section
and online buying behaviour, Amazon became unable to meet consumer expectations. As per the
given statistics, overall sales of Amazon increased up to nearly 9388 billion INR in 2020 due to
growing demands for online shopping in India (Statista, 2022),
Due to increasing online sales, offline activities and delivery systems were of no use. For that
reason, to maintain economic sustainability, Amazon terminated those offline workforces in the
beginning phase of Covid-19. However, with passing time, customers start to panic about buying
essential items from Amazon e-commerce. Due to the high population, overall demands in India
were also much higher. As a result, Amazon started to fail in meeting consumer demands. Their
most demanded “1-day delivery system” started to fail due to a lack of employees which highly
affected their brand reputation.

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In contemporary times, the consumer behaviour towards online marketing has become much
higher for which Amazon will need to focus on their recruitment strategies to hire employees
having quality knowledge of digital marketing and handling offline warehouses.
This report sheds light on the staff shortage issues in Amazon due to increasing online sales,
which have to be resolved with quality recruitment policies.

1.3 Aims and objectives

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the issues regarding employee shortage and provide
appropriate recruitment solutions to deal with this Human Resource crisis. In addition, this study will
provide recommendations for the issues that they are having.
● To understand the relationship between pandemic and employee shortage
● To evaluate the issues regarding employee shortage in Amazon in light of the increment in online
sales
● To analyse the impact of employee shortage on the organisation and its product offering
capabilities
● To explore various recruitment strategies (internal and external) that may help Amazon to handle
labour shortages

1.4 Research Question

Q1. What is the relationship between pandemic and employee shortage?

Q2. What are the issues regarding employee shortage in Amazon in light of the increment in online sales?
Q3. What is the impact of employee shortage on the organisation and its product offering capabilities?
Q4. What are the various recruitment strategies (internal and external) that may help Amazon to handle
labour shortages?

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1.5 Report structure

Figure 1.2: Report structure

(Source: Developed by Learner)

The Introduction section of the report has provided a vast discussion of the background of the
study. Appropriate evidence has been provided as well. The problem statement has been
provided for the report. Also, this section has provided the aim and objective of the research as
well as the questions of the research has been provided as well. The structure of the report has
been provided as well.
The Literature Review section of this research has provided vast information on the past studies
and analysis has been provided after reviewing the previous studies related theories, as well as
models, have been provided in this section. Literature gasp has also been provided in this section.
The Methods section of this research has provided vast information on the methods that have
been undertaken for this research. Appropriate evidence, as well as justification for selecting the
methods, has been provided in this section.
The Project intervention section has provided vast information on the research and about the risk
in this section. Furthermore, a timeline of the projects, as well as budget for this project, has been
mentioned in this section.

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1.6 Justification for methods

This research has been done with the help of “Positivism philosophy”. Also, a “Deductive
approach” has been undertaken for better data collection. In addition, a Descriptive design has
been selected for this research for a better focus on the study incident. Also, a Quantitative
research method has been undertaken for this research for data collection. Also, a thematic
analysis has been done for better data representation.

1.7 Summary

This section has provided vast information on the background of the topic as well as an
appropriate problems statement has been provided in this section of the report. Aims and
objectives have been provided in this section. Furthermore, the structure of this research has been
prepared in this section.

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2. Literature review

2.1 Introduction

The analysis of this chapter is based on the corresponding literature on the strategic hiring
process done for mitigating the issues faced in the post-pandemic scenario due to the lack of
employees. In this section, the concept of the strategic hiring process implemented by Amazon
for enhancing the online services in the post-pandemic period has been analyzed based on the
relevant theories. On top of it, the reason for employee shortage has also been discussed for
signifying employee motivation in offline marketing.

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 2.2 Conceptual framework

RTAGE DURING COVID 19 DUE TO INCREASE IN ONLINE SALES: STRATEGIC RECRUITMENT PROJECT FO

Theories related to the study Concept of the strategic employee hiring process

Critical contact theory

Mating Theory Approach Paradigm of employee retention in post-pandemic situatio

Literature Gap

Tools and techniques for hiring employees 13

2.3 Concept of the strategic employee hiring process

Figure 2.1: Concept of the strategic employee hiring process

(Source: Created by Learner)

Planning

Considering the concept of a strategic employee hiring process the preliminary stage of this
implication was the effective planning process for organizing the event of recruitment. As per the
verdict of Jain et al. (2020), Strategic Planning includes the identification of the demand in terms
of considering the need of employees in the corresponding departments. Synchronizing the
relevance of the statement with the research, the planning process of Amazon in the hiring
process was executed for selecting the candidates across India in terms of performing the online
marketing process. The shortage of staff has been seen in Amazon due to the gradual expansion
of the viral activities caused by Covid-19 in India rapidly.

Recruitment

The second stage of the strategic hiring process was the scenario of the recruitment process in
terms of regulating the importance of Internal and External recruitment strategies. As per the
concept of Kumar et al. (2019), internal recruitment strategies involve the employee referrals in
terms of meeting the desired criteria of the role offered by the corresponding organization.
Determining the importance of the author’s view the resonance of employee referral has been

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identified in this section, which has been significantly done by Amazon as well in terms of
reducing the required time for selecting effective employees.

On the other hand, Kashive et al. (2020) have proclaimed that an external recruitment strategy is
also valid for performing the hiring process of the aspiring candidate in terms of may\training the
mobility of the progressiveness of the work. Reflecting the relevance of the author’s utterance,
the significance of online job portals can be factored into justifying the effective recruitment
strategy. Determining the hiring process of Amazon in the case of staff shortage, both internal
and external recruitment process has been assumed in terms of mitigating the diversification of
the working process in the online platform for maintaining the revenue generation aspect in the
post-pandemic scenario caused by Covid-19.

Employee selection

In terms of investigation, the employee selection process was the final stage of the recruitment
process in the form of verifying the documents and the identification of the existence of the
candidate for the designated role in the corresponding organization. As per the consideration of
Bhagavatula et al. (2019), employee selection included the body language of the candidate and
the acquired knowledge in the required field for the completion of the hiring process.
Considering this fact, Amazon has also implemented the same strategy for the recruitment
process in India to neutralize the lack of employees in the online sales department.

2.4 Theories related to the study

2.4.1 Mating Theory Approach

The adoption of the “Mating theory of recruitment” has been done in this research in terms of
reflecting the importance of job seekers in MNC. As per the utterance of Sannon and Cosley
(2019), the “Mating theory of recruitment” theory signifies the motivational perspective from
the candidate's end in terms of validating personal characteristics. Determining the concept of the
author and the relevance of this theory can be assumed by factoring in the deteriorating
motivation of the employees during the pandemic scenario caused by Covid-19. Considering the
hiring process of Amazon this particular theory was applicable in terms of motivating the
seeking candidates for surviving the organization in the online marketing process for enhancing

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the revenue generation aspect in the post-pandemic scenario by considering the gradual
illustration of the virus through tangible elements.

2.4.2 Critical contact theory

Determination of “Critical Contract Theory” has been emphasized in this scenario for
contrasting the hiring process of effective and skilled employees in the designated potion. As per
the vision of Jaiswal et al. (2022), “Critical Contract Theory” signifies the hiring process of the
candidates under certain contracts such as stipend or time duration of serving the corresponding
organization. Determining the utterance of the author the salutation of the concept can be
reflected in the form of enlightening the strategic hiring process during the post-pandemic
scenario. Considering the implementation of Amazon the strategic hiring process has been
executed in the form of recruiting the candidates with effective skills and technical knowledge
along with a contract of certain years as per the requirement. This kind of recruitment process
majorly happened to retain the portion of certain organizations from deteriorating in any
uncertain case.

2.5 Paradigm of employee retention in post-pandemic situation

2.5.1 Hiring professional and skilled employees for handling online sales

The event of employee retention has been signified in the form of hiring skilled employees by
Amazon in this research. Scrutinizing the concept of Dinesh and Sushil (2019), internal
recruitment strategies involve the employee referrals in terms of meeting the desired criteria of
the role offered by the corresponding organization. Determining the importance of the author’s
view the resonance of employee referral has been identified in this section, which has been
significantly done by Amazon as well in terms of reducing the required time for selecting
effective employees.

2.5.2 Analyzing the personality traits due to staff shortage

According to the resonance of Haidar and Keune (2021), behavioural changes in the form of
affecting preferability can be a major reason for the employee shortage in an online-based
organization. Distinguishing the point of the author Amazon has majorly contrasted the

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personality traits of the aspiring employees before assigning them to the designated job role. The
considerable scenario of spreading the virus of Covid-19 was the main reason for identifying this
particular event of personality trait in terms of accepting the job role of online sales executive by
the employees across India in terms of enhancing the revenue generation aspect of Amazon.

2.5.3 Scrutinizing key factors for staff stability during manpower shortage

According to the vision of Janetius et al. (2019), the stability of the staff determines the elements
related to facilities and the job satisfaction gained by the corresponding employees for a long-
lasting period. Relating this author’s concept with the implication done by Amazon it has been
identified that the stability factor among the existing and new employees can be implemented by
allowing sufficient remuneration in the form of salary and an effective working environment.
Exploring the major shortage in manpower for managing the operational functionalities, Amazon
has implemented external facilities such as travelling expenses and corresponding facilities for
executing the designated task by Amazon in an effective manner.

2.5.4 Importance of strategic recruitment process

Considering the strategic hiring process of Amazon in India the progressiveness in the
recruitment process in the online services has been reflected in the form of conveying rewards
for meeting the assigned target in a particular time period. As per the consideration of Suresh and
Rani (2020), a strategic recruitment process is an allowing process of the aspiring employees
under contractual agreement. Determining the utterance of the author the salutation of the
concept can be reflected in the form of enlightening the strategic hiring process during the post-
pandemic scenario. Considering the implementation of Amazon the strategic hiring process has
been executed in the form of recruiting the candidates with effective skills and technical
knowledge along with a contract of certain years as per the requirement.

2.6 Tools and techniques for hiring employees

Job Boards

Scrutinizing the importance of the tool and techniques of the effective recruitment process the
implication of the Job Board has been considered in this research. As per the consideration of

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Calvão and Thara (2019), Job Board is a platform for posting jobs for the corresponding opening
in the required sectors in terms of recruiting skilled employees for the designated roles and
responsibilities. Considering the fact of observation of the author’s perspective this particular
tool has been selected for an effective hiring process. As per the context of the analysis, Amazon
has also implemented this strategic hiring process in India for enhancing the opportunity for
employment in online sales and marketing during the scenario of Covid-19. This particular tool
has dynamically enhanced employee engagement in Amazon by reflecting the successful
operations activities within the company.

Interviewing Software

The identification of the interview software has been done by Amazon for grabbing the
opportunities of the vast employees across India in terms of mitigating the deficiency that
occurred in the form of staff disengagement. As per the utterance of Gilch and Sieweke (2021),
interviewing software helps to perform the interview process in an intangible manner by
neglecting the tendency of physical interaction. Accepting the reliability of the author’s view the
relevant implementation of Skype, Google met has been done by Amazon for accomplishing the
interview process of the aspiring employees across India. Determining the growing scenario of
the virus affection this particular tool was the most effective decision taken by Amazon for
performing the hiring process in terms of mitigating the leak of employees in the online sales
portal.

Chatbots

Exploring the proclamation of Ferreira et al. (2020), a Chatbot is an AI technology or auto-

generated messaging software that replies to the candidates or applicants while placing quarries
in the job portals. Determining the relevance of the author’s consideration Amazon has also
implemented this particular technology for increasing the interaction with the aspiring employees
in terms of regulating the chances of employee retention in the designated role of online
operations.

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2.7 Significance of employee motivation for enhancing the online marketing in a
post-pandemic situation

Reward Recognition

Identifying the significance of employee motivation, the concept of reward recognition has been
implemented by Amazon in India for mitigating the shortage of employees. According to the
proclamation of Jarrahi et al. (2020), reward recognition helps to define the level of employee
satisfaction in terms of signifying the contribution of the corresponding company towards online
sales. Considering the strategic hiring process of Amazon in India the progressiveness in the
recruitment process in the online services has been reflected in the form of conveying rewards
for meeting the assigned target in a particular time period.

External facilities

In terms of identifying the program of motivational factors, external facilities have been
identified in this section for performing the enhancement in online marketing. As per the
conviction of Rani et al. (2021), external facilities reflect the enhancement in the remuneration in
the form of incentives and the facilities in the form of mobilizing the living style. Determining
the vision of the author, Amazon has successfully accepted this particular event in the form of
reducing the staff shortage due to the impact of Covid-19 in India. The successful transmission
of this plan has been executed in this case by allowing the recruited employees travelling
expenses and corresponding facilities for executing the designated task by Amazon in an
effective manner, which can eventually enhance the online services of Amazon in India.

Work from Home

Supporting safety protocols of the employees across India Amazon has forecasted the work from
home facility in terms of enhancing the employee engagement towards the company in terms of
performing the online sales operation in an intangible manner. This particular vision of the
company has deteriorated the tendency of spreading the virus and resulted in the disengagement
of the employees.

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2.8 Reason for employee shortages due to increasing online sales

Employee shortage due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus

The major reason for the employee shortage was the massive spread of the Covid-19 virus across
India. As per the proclamation of Anner et al. (2021), the intrinsic spread ratio of Covid-19
across India has affected employment in every workplace in terms of hampering productivity.
Scrutinising the sustainability factor of the operational efficiency of Amazon in dia the
deterioration of the labour in the form of employees has been identified. Objecting to the
contusion of employee shortage Amazon has majorly contrasted the motivation factor of the
aspiring employees for accomplishing the online sales program in terms of evaluating the
regressive action in the sales activity in India.

Employee shortage due to the rise in product demand

The sudden rise in product demand has objectified the shortage of employees in the operational
segment of the online business operations of Amazon. As per the concern of Gruzd et al. (2020),
handling the online demand of the customers is the major function in the e-commerce industry
for maintaining goodwill in a digital platform for further enhancement of the progressive
business. Determining the co0nsideration of the author the identification of employee shortage
has been done by Amazon in the post-pandemic situation while performing the online service
such as database management and transactional protocols. Sustaining this fact Haidar and Keune
(2021) have also proclaimed that the digital transaction during the pandemic scenario is the most
relevant intangible way of receiving funds, which needed a strong technical team to execute.
Identifying this perticular fact Amazon has majorly signified the scenario of employee shortage
with the rise of product demand in the post-pandemic situation.

2.9 Importance of strategic recruitment process in Amazon for enhancing

productivity in online marketing

The extensive spread of the Covid-19 virus across India was the reason for the productivity
breakdown in Amazon. As per the proclamation of Dinesh and Sushil (2019), the intrinsic spread
ration of Covid-19 across India has affected employment in every workplace in terms of

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hampering productivity. Defining the sustainability factor of the operational efficiency of
Amazon in dia the deterioration of the labour in the form of employees has been identified.
Objecting to the contusion of employee shortage Amazon has majorly contrasted the motivation
factor of the aspiring employees for accomplishing the online sales program in terms of
evaluating the regressive action in the sales activity in India.

On the same note, as per the constrain of Sannon and Cosley (2019), the strategic recruitment
process includes the engagement of the employees in terms of performing the online marketing
aspect by incorporating the deviation towards the mass productivity in terms of revenue
generation. Contrasting the relevance of the statement it can be stated that Amazon was much
focused to grab the mallet opportunity in India in terms of enhancing the employment ratio in the
maintenance of inline operational aspects for boosting productivity.

2.10 Gap in literature

Considering the views in the LR section 2.6, the implementation of Job boards has been done by
Amazon in India for opening new job opportunities for the deserving candidates. However,
during the analysis it has been seen that in such cases website fishing has been done for the job
role in Amazon in terms of diverting the candidates, which has signified the difficulty in
occurring relevant information regarding the online post for the employment in Amazon.

As per LR section 2.3, the recruitment process Amazon has been focused on the body language
of the applicant. However, during the interview sessions of Amazon in India, it has been seen
that the years of experience in the required field. In this manner, the literature gap has been
identified in this particular research.

2.11 Conclusion

In this literature review section, the corresponding literature on the strategic hiring process done
for mitigating the issues faced in the post-pandemic scenario. The concept of the strategic hiring
process implemented by Amazon for enhancing the online services in the post-pandemic period
has been analyzed based on the relevant theories. On top of it, the spread of covid-19 and the rise
in product demand has been signified in this section in the form of occurring labour shortage.

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3. Method and implementation

3.1 Introduction

This section of the work aims to disclose all methods used in this work from data collection to
analyse. Starting with the methodological choices made in his research this section has tried to
reveal the undertaken ethics also.

3.2 Research onion

The methodologies adopted to collect research data relevant to the study aim and objectives are
shown explicitly through the research onion:

Figure 3.2 Research onion

(Source: Melnikovas, 2018)

A research onion visualises all the possible methodologies adopted by researchers in the
contemporary field of business management and scientific research. The current research is from
the business management field that aims to explore the study phenomenon related to employee
shortage due to the rise in online (e-commerce) sales in the Covid-era. In order to satisfy this

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aim, this research holds an epistemological viewpoint that is positivism in nature or type. As per
the comment of Melnikovas (2018), the positivism philosophy allows generating facts and
knowledge through casual observation that are subjective and relative, as the study of reality is
socially constructed and evolves constantly. Understanding the particular causes of staff shortage
in the increase in e-commerce sales requires exploration of the trust from an objective way
Positivism philosophy can make it possible to give knowledge that is factual and credible to the
current research context in an objective way.
In terms of approach, the work has considered going with the deductive approach to explore the
causal relationship between the study and its all variables. As per the opinion of Obeidat and
Alomari (2020), an inductive approach helps to discover new things as it completely focuses on
the interest of the researcher or investigator. Although adoption of the inductive approach could
have helped to ensure added flexibility while exploring the study's aim closely to its context, the
work aimed to explore variables like staff shortage and increase in online sales to generate more
contextual results. In addition to this, the study has used the descriptive design to focus on the
study phenomenon. The descriptive design has helped to describe the research phenomenon as
accurately as possible in light of the observed knowledge gained from collected research data.
Hence, a mono method quantitative, which is popularly known as the quantitative research
method, can be considered the fundamental methodological choice made to generate reliable and
accurate research results.

3.3 Logical connections between project elements and methodology

The chosen methods are stated by giving a detailed description of the current research onion
were enough the scrutinise crucial project elements. One of the crucial elements of this project is
the external and internal recruitment strategies of Amazon that can help the firm to handle its
labour stages in the rise of its e-commerce sales. The data or information required to identify
such recruitment strategies was collected under the influence of the chosen epistemological view
(positivism). According to this philosophical perspective, only the factual knowledge (the truth)
gained from data measurement and observation is trustworthy to generate a logical conclusion
(Business Research Methodology, 2021). Hence, understanding the truth about the current labour
shortage felt by Amazon India’s management was possible due to the application of positivism

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philosophy. In light of the descriptive design, this phenomenon has been evaluated as accurately
as possible.
Some of the fundamental research elements considered for investigation were the number of
Amazon’s employees required for specific job profiles, the number of eligible internal candidates
for internal promotion and the amount of time taken from employee recruitment to employee on-
boarding. As pointed out by Richards et al. (2019), as the quantitative method works on
numerical data, the results become more accurate. Thus, the employment of the quantitative
methodology has made the task easier to conduct inquiry-based research to shed light on these
elements. All these mentioned research elements (variables) are highly linked to the current
research study. Such causal links have been explored in light of the deductive approach.

3.4 Epistemological position and methodological issues

Epistemology is basically considered a knowledge theory that emphasises how a research work
tends to gather knowledge and from which data sources. There are some branches and
approaches with which a research work positions it. In the case of current research, the
epistemological position of this work is positivism. As per the work of McMurtry (2020), an
optimistic assertion of this philosophical view is that any universal and certain truth can be
definitively established in an objective way. This assertion influenced the work to position this
work on positivism philosophy. The benefit obtained from this was the ability to narrow down
the investigation procedures closely to the research context in order to find out the truth
regarding how the increase in online sales led Amazon to experience a labour shortage and how
Amazon might conduct their internal and external recruitment strategies to handle this crisis.
In spite of having this benefit, there is a major issue associated with this philosophical use, which
has limited this work to explore unexplained phenomena. Analysis of data under the influence of
the positivism approach becomes too unrealistic when set beside the complexity of social
phenomena (Marsonet, 2019). For example, labour shortage due to an increase in online sales in
the covid era can be assessed by exploring two research phenomena; labour shortage due to the
spread of the Covid virus and labour shortage because of the rising demand and sales of
Amazon’s e-commerce products. Here, the application of positivism philosophy restricted this
applied research work to provide a well-justified and realistic explanation of both phenomena.

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This is the only methodological issue found while setting the epistemological position of this
study.

3.5 Methodological approach, methods, and design

The methodological approach chosen in this work is the deductive approach followed by the
quantitative method. As per the opinion of Woiceshyn and Daellenbach (2018), by exploring the
causal relationship between research variables and the study, the deductive approach allows
generating findings to a certain extent. Therefore, the reason for choosing this methodology was
to explore the research phenomena by understanding the causal relationship between the study
and variables. Some of the explored variables are labour shortage due to the spread of the Covid
virus, e-commerce sales, Covid-19 impact on the e-commerce industry, reduction in the number
of staff, Amazon’s recruitment needs, and labour shortage because of the rising demand and
sales of Amazon’s e-commerce products. The reason for working with the quantitative
methodology was mainly to work with statistical data, such as the number of Amazon’s
employees required for specific job profiles, the number of eligible internal candidates for
internal promotion and the amount of time taken from employee recruitment to employee on
boarding.

25
 Figure 3.5 Methodological approach, methods, and design

(Source: Self-developed)
Working with numerical data has allowed the work to ensure greater accuracy in results.
However, the discussion of the results might look qualitative in nature, it was done only to reflect
on the knowledge observed from the collected research data.
Another methodological choice made in this research is the use of descriptive design. As per the
comment of Atmowardoyo (2018), descriptive research design helps a research work to describe
the research phenomenon accurately in an argumentative manner. Along with describing the
aforementioned study phenomena, it has become possible to generate in-depth knowledge of the
study by conducting an objective-based enquiry. In the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the growth
of online sales is a concurrent topic, and so is the labour shortage. By considering this, it was
necessary to work with a design that can study the situation from a very recent perspective.
Descriptive design was the only research design that could meet this requirement.

3.6 Data collection and analysis method

The research work has mainly been based on secondary quantitative data, which made the entire
work quantitative in nature. The reason for choosing this type of data was mainly to ensure
realistic measurements of research data and generate accurate data. Richards et al. (2019) have
pointed out that quantitative research ensures better accuracy in research results than qualitative
research. A study that contains elements likes labour shortage, Covid-19 impact on business
sales, and strategic requirements need to produce proper findings that can inform the world about
the current phenomena. This was the fundamental influence behind the use of quantitative data.
The methods adopted to collect research data were document review and current news analysis.
Potential sources of data mainly include newspapers, Amazon’s websites, Google Scholar, and
credible internet sources like Statista. The data analysis method chosen in this work was thematic
analysis. Although thematic analysis is considered a flexible and powerful method of analysing
qualitative data, this method is used here in light of the content analysis technique. The basic
process adopted to provide a theme-based discussion of results includes reviewing relevant
media content, observing the data, gathering knowledge and data implications, developing
objective-relevant themes according to the observed data trend. The fundamental intention

26
behind going with this data analysis approach was mainly to create rich knowledge for the target
audiences (other e-commerce businesses that face labour shortages).

3.7 The critical explanation for the rejection of other methods

The main contender for the quantitative method used in this work was the qualitative research
method. Although the qualitative research method could have helped to explore the research
phenomena in-depth for generating new knowledge for the study, this work has opted for a
quantitative method for ensuring accurate results. On the other hand, Rahman (2020) has claimed
that the qualitative method does not consider contextual sensitivity while focusing on meaning
and experiences. Labour shortage in the post covid era is a highly sensitive area for investigation,
as there may be other reasons for this crisis in HR supply than the rise in online sales. It is
necessary to consider all those areas to generate conclusive results. For this reason, the work has
avoided the use of the qualitative method. On the other hand, the application of interpretivism
philosophy might have created great room for bias while interpreting research data. On the
contrary, the objective nature of positivism philosophy was highly favourable to generating
accurate biased-free results.

3.8 Critical discussion about ethics

Ethics is one of the foremost quality criteria of research that helps to improve the study's
feasibility as well as viability. Therefore, it was a fundamental requirement for this research
work to maintain all ethical criteria under the provision of quality research ethics. In search of a
strategy, the main ethical consideration made in this work was compliance with the sections 43A
and 72A of the “Information Technology Act 2000”. Section 43 A addresses a corporate body or
individual to implement “reasonable security practices” while handling or dealing with any
sensitive information of others, whereas 72A addresses to avoid disclosing personal information
of an individual without his/her consent obtain properly before the disclosure (India Code, 2022).
Although this work has not undertaken any primary data for which informed consent should be
obtained, protective measures have been taken to avoid data falsification. Data used in this work
was from Amazon’s annual report, online newspapers, and other credible internet sources that
used primary data for their report. In order to avoid falsification of those, the rule of data
acknowledgement was followed in light of the Harvard Referencing System in accordance with

27
the University Standard. This has helped them work to acknowledge the contribution of all data
sources through in-text citations.

3.9 Summary

The work has followed quantitative methodology to ensure accuracy in the produced results.
Under the influence of this methodology, the positivism philosophy was appointed to explore
factual knowledge in an objective. Exploration of factual knowledge required the work to
scrutinise potential research variables (both independent and dependent). In order to meet this
aim, a deductive approach was employed to understand the causal relationship between the study
and all sensitive variables. Descriptive design was the fundamental tool used to describe the
observed research phenomenon accurately. The rule of data acknowledgement was followed
under the provision of “The Information Technology Act 2000” to reflect on the considered
ethics.

28
4. Project Interventions

4.2 Narratives of Project

In this section of the study, there has been a detailed discussion and demonstration of the detailed
analysis of the study. The direct linkage of themes and conceptual analysis are effectively and
efficiently linked in this section of the study. This in turn makes to have a more simple and easy
understanding of the topic of the study. The discussion is also helpful to come to a detailed and
concrete final conclusion of the entire study.
It can be clearly noted that due to the pandemic there is an extreme amount of labour shortage.
The pandemic has made the entire business of Amazon India totally close down the offline
business activities of the above-stated office. E-commerce sales have gained momentum due to
the strict restrictions being imposed by the Indian Government to go out to curb the steep rise of
the pandemic, especially in the fiscal year 2020. According to Lu et al. (2022), it can be stated
that there was a huge growth in e-commerce sales by nearly half of the per cent due to a
tremendous increase in demand for goods and services at this time of the pandemic. However,
the major delay in the dispatch of foods can be seen as the rise in demand is meeting with the
lacuna of workers in the Amazon. The labour shortage in Amazon India during this time is
evident because of two vital reasons.
The first reason pertains to the fact is the total negligence on the part of Amazon. This is so
because, before the hit of the pandemic of the fact, some reports showed that some of the Indian
staff were not happy with Amazon regarding the staff management of the Amazon. This is so
becasue Amazon India seemed to be too much work pressure on the employees without giving
any break or further incentives. This has created a pool of dissatisfaction amongst a large number
of workers to be further working in the company. The next reason is regarded to be the
pandemic. This is so because most of the workers are inter and intra country-specific. They could
not return to their respective workplaces during the pandemic (Din et al. 2022). This has in turn
created disruption in the supply chain management, especially with the too much low strength of
staffs for meeting an ever-increasing daily increase in demand of Indian people.
Amazon India with tough struggling with staff shortage during the time of the pandemic has
devised to tart recruitment both externally and internally. As per the views of Mukherjeea

29
(2021), it is stated that Amazon has started internal recruitment by referral method and through
externally by pool recruitment or mass recruitment process. This recruitment did not give any
respite after spending so much money to $4 billion in additional labour and related expenses
during the fourth quarter, amid pandemic-fueled shortages (The Economic Times, 2022).
Amazon Company wants to be in tough competition with Flipkart and Walmart during this crisis
time. External recruitment could not throw any light because of the very poor recruitment
procedure that can be undertaken due to the prolonged strong grip of the Corona pandemic. The
internal recruitment was also not very much effective because of the ineffective strategic
measures applied during the recruitment process of not granting work from home facilities
during this time to the freshers.
Amazon planned to effectively fight with staff storage by doing a one-day enormous business.
However, because of the excessive fuel pricing in India, the transportation cost and the other
ioverhaed expenses seemed to cerate a sign of discomfort. The staff shortage also has made a
substyamtail impact on the e-commerce sales of Amazon on a gradual basis. This is because of
the total disruption in the substantial SCM with progressing months of the pandemic. As per the
veiws of Bapuji et al. (2020), it can be stated that the one-day business making is a super high
ambition on the aport of amazon which will be of no use, especially in the country like that of
India. There was also a lack of training and learning soft skills development programs that are
also accounting for the lacking of staffs in a most popular global Company like that of Amazon.
The inverse in online sales did as such no favour to the on-time unfirm salary dispatch of the
existing or left with staffs.
The reduced staff with an increase in sales on the online platform did not make such a major
market in India during the pandemic. This is so because the ecxsuitriung staffs have to work day
and nbifght that is creating a direct impact on the health and well being of the employees. The
too much strain on the R & D sector of the above-stated company also caused a challenging
importance because of the lack of availability of resources and also absence of skilled staffs or
weokers in large numbers. By the influence of Iansiti and Lakhani (2020), it effectively and
efficiently states that the staffs shortage forced the above-stated Company to have an effective
and innovative strategic recruitment procedure in order to tackle the issues as fast as possible.
Despite all this Amazon has banged 38% of its profits from e-commerce during the pandemic
compared to 6% incurred by Walmart during this time (Amazon, 2022). There was often seemed

30
to create a creation of chaotic environment frequently because of the absence of goals clearing
and vision understanding.
Amazon has seemed to have come up with some innovative and creative recruitment strategies
that will help to cut down the staff or labour shortage issues. According to Brevini and Swiatek
(2020), it can be stated that the engagement of digital tools and technologies in the recruitment
drive of Amazon. The AI and ML helped to set up the virtual interview or telephonic process.
The voice recognition can be tapped with the confidence level of the candidates which helped the
Company to have a clear demarcation of the most eligible and suited candidates. This can be
termed as the remote screening of candidates by being physically present on a face to face at the
interview venue. There is also the presence of external recruitment strategies for Amazon India
whose performance has not been at all impressive during the time of the pandemic.
The external recruitment of Amazon is mainly composed of two parts one is on campusing and
the other one is off or pool campusing. However, there was as such no external recruitment on
teh parts of amazon during the pandemic. This could have helped the above-stated company to
have a strong fight with the staff shortage. This is so because it can be noted that a near about
85% recruitment strength of Amazon is mainly dependent on the external recruitment process
(Amazon, 2022). There were actually no such job fairs during this time apart from the closure of
educational institutions in order to stop the rapid or quick infected and mortality rate of the
Covid-19 in such a densely populated country like that of India.
This has created a massive gap in the manpower strength of the Amazon Company to meet the
daily increasing demands of the consumers during this time. The digital recruitment strategy of
Amazon India has brought some sort of relief to bridge the gap of shortage of staffs or workers
by one-quarter of the full normal stretch. The main problem lies in the total budget being append
in this sector and with what is left out for the Company in order to have future sustainability or
existence of the Company in a developing country like India. The presence of Amazon has also
helped to enhance the employment level of India during the pandemic and also in the post-
pandemic time (Wirtz, 2020).

4.3 Timeline and Schedule

In order to complete this research, primarily an idea was proposed and finalised as the topic of
staff shortage for Amazon, India was a major issue that affected their sales, consumer

31
satisfaction and brand value during the pandemic. In the next state, the major focus on gathering
authentic literary information on the topic, sales of Amazon during pandemics and major issues
due to staff shortage. After that, critical and appropriate data, as well as literary knowledge, were
shortlisted which were mostly related to this research. Then the principal focus on selecting
appropriate methodologies for this study. Positivism philosophy and deductive research approach
were followed to collect factual data and for effective hypothesis-based analysis. Secondary data
have been collected from various trusted sources. Then, “Quantitative thematic analysis” with
the help of graphs and statistical data has been done to complete several aspects of the selected
topic.
The researchers had taken the rough notes or a draft of the references before going into the next
step for the final formulation of the topic of the research topic. After the formulation of the topic
o0f the study, the investigation issues were effectively and efficiently dine in order to make a
popular clarity and accuracy of the entire research study. The LR part helps in the detailing of the
entire study that helps in the definition of objectives.

4.5 Project budget

Secondary research is highly budget-friendly as most of the sources undertaken for data
collection are free. However, there are a few items that can be taken into consideration when
revealing the research expenses. Those are presented below:

Items Expenses (INR)

Internet cost INR 30

Electricity costs INR 100

Technology costs (systems, Pen Drive, and INR 300

other necessary accessories)

Total INR 430

32
 Table 1: Project budget

I would like to consider the expenses for the aforementioned three items only. Although I had a
computer system in my room, I could not use that as other family members were also using it.
Therefore, I had to arrange an alternative system alongside the mentioned items.

4.6 Reflection

Human Resource Management (HRM) is one of the core operational areas of an organisation that
enhances its competitive advantage, as HR plays in the frontline when it comes to outperforming
competitors. The knowledge this research has created can is highly beneficial for other
organisations that are struggling to find a\out a lease of survival regarding their HRM area in the
post-covid area. Before shedding light on the HRM area, it would be highly informative for the
reader to understand the leadership implications in light of Amazon’s leadership styles. As per
the report of The Economic Times (2020), Amazon failed to keep their promise regarding ‘one-
day-delivery ambitions’ due to the excessive shortage in its labour. Here, I would like to apply
the theory of contingency to justify the failure in Amazon’s leadership style that led to
experiencing this major crisis. In accordance with this theory, a leader must consider the external
as well as internal situations to run the business effectively (Salihu, 2019). In spite of observing
labour shortages resulting from the covid-19 impact, the company has not shown any activity for
staff recruitment. In fact, many warehouses and factories were closed down and labourers were
sent to their home. Therefore, the main knowledge related to leadership rising from this work is
that leaders of today must consider situational threats in advance to respond quickly and
strategically at the time of need.
In the case of HRM, the study has found that both internal and external recruitment strategies can
rescue Amazon from this crisis provoked in the form of labour shortage. According to my
knowledge, these two forms of recruitment can help other business firms to recruit talented
people as soon as possible. In the case of external recruitment, the traditional process of
recruitment like job advertisement posting, interview, selection, and employee on boarding
should be taken into consideration, whereas employee referral and social media posts will be the
two mediums for internal recruitment. In the post-covid era, firms can also go through an online
interview process to comply with the government’s new covid measurements. Furthermore,
firms need to assess their business requirements to develop strategic recruitment and selection

33
criteria to obtain optimal talent. Therefore, the knowledge that this study provides on HRM and
leadership can rescue organisations that are unable to understand how to cope with their labour
shortages.

34
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