MAM
Housing.com sweeps five awards for ‘Look Up’ campaign
MUMBAI: Housing.com bagged five awards at the National Award for Marketing Excellence hosted by CMO Asia. It won in five key categories including ‘Brand Excellence in e-commerce and Internet Business Sector,’ ‘Emerging Brand Award’ and ‘Best New Brand, Product and Service Launch.’
Recognizing the success for Housing.com’s marketing campaign ‘Look Up,’ the company was also awarded ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ and ‘Best Use of Social Media.’
National Award for Marketing Excellence recognises organisations and marketers who have achieved extraordinary success for innovative and effective marketing practices. The platform awards marketers who have pushed their brands to measured success through sound and innovative marketing strategies.
Housing.com chief marketing officer Pratik Seal said, “We are thrilled with the accolades and recognition Housing.com’s ambitious ‘Look Up’ campaign has received. The team zealously worked hard to not only push limits in terms of ideation but also executing this mammoth campaign. CMO Asia Awards is known to recognize excellence in marketing; it is a matter of great pride that our first brand campaign has been well received by the marketing fraternity.”
Digital
Authbridge finds 5.61 per cent discrepancy rate in on-demand hiring
White-collar roles show 4.33 per cent overall as employment history leads at 11.15 per cent in H1 FY26.
MUMBAI: India’s hiring scene is pulling a classic bait-and-switch, candidates promise the world on paper, but the background check reveals the plot twist nobody saw coming. Authbridge, the country’s top trust and authentication tech firm, released its Workforce Fraud Files – H1 FY26 report (covering July–December 2025) around 16–17 February 2026, crunching data from millions of verifications across identity, address, employment history, education, criminal records, and CV validation.
The headline numbers paint a sobering picture: white-collar hires clocked an overall discrepancy rate of 4.33 per cent, while the on-demand ecosystem (gig and flexible roles) fared worse at 5.61 per cent showing that the faster, looser world of app-based work comes with extra red flags.
For white-collar folks, employment verification topped the trouble list at 11.15 per cent, followed by address checks at 7.68 per cent, education at 4.49 per cent, and references at 4.17 per cent. Drug screening (1.87 per cent) and criminal records (0.50 per cent) stayed relatively tame, but still popped up enough to matter.
The gig side showed even sharper vulnerabilities, address discrepancies hit 9.70 per cent, identity (NID) issues 2.53 per cent, and criminal record mismatches 2.23 per cent particularly worrying for roles with direct customer contact or field duties.
Industry breakdowns add colour, address problems plagued Telecom (15.42 per cent), IT (12.02 per cent), Pharma (11.21 per cent), Retail (10.64 per cent), and Banking & BFSI (10.23 per cent). Employment verification headaches were biggest in Retail (16.37 per cent), Telecom (14.32 per cent), Banking & BFSI (13.00 per cent), and Pharma (12.10 per cent). Education slips stood out in Retail (9.16 per cent) and Telecom (7.80 per cent), while CV validation mismatches appeared in IT (12.80 per cent) and Banking & BFSI (2.91 per cent).
Authbridge CEO and founder Ajay Trehan didn’t mince words, “The H1 FY26 Workforce Fraud Files clearly show that hiring-related discrepancies remain a persistent and structural challenge. Despite faster and more digitised hiring workflows, we continue to see gaps in fundamental checks such as employment history, address, and education. These are not minor inconsistencies; they have direct implications for organisational risk, compliance, and trust.”
The report stresses ditching one-and-done checks, start screening pre-offer to avoid nasty surprises post-joining, and layer in periodic reviews like drug tests, court records, and lifestyle assessments for ongoing risk management. Tools like Authbridge’s Authnumber (consent-based digital credentials) and Authlead (deep-dive leadership vetting) get a nod for cutting friction and blind spots.
Bottom line? In a job market racing for speed and scale, skimping on trust verification is like building a house on sand, one solid background check away from watching the whole thing crumble.
