Hiring activity jumps 15 pc in June: Report

Hiring activity in the country, which was hit by the second COVID-19 wave, bounced back with a 15 percent growth in June compared to May, according to a report.

The activity was led by the IT-Software/Software Services sector.

The latest Naukri JobSpeak report on Thursday said that India's hiring trends grew 15 percent in June, recording 2,359 job postings — up from 2,047 in May.

This is an indication of resilience and recovery of hiring activity across the country, especially after a 15 percent fall in April and then flattening out in May, primarily due to the pandemic, the report noted.

The Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly index that calculates and records hiring activity based on the job listings on Naukri.com website.

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Buoyed by the demand from organisations to use IT to overcome business challenges, the IT-Software and Software Services sector grew 5 percent in June compared to the previous month. This sector achieved an all-time high growth of 52 percent compared to pre-COVID-19 levels in June 2019, as per the report.

Tech hiring has remained relatively insular to the effects of the pandemic, an impact of rapid digitisation of organisations, it added.

Meanwhile, sectors that were severely hit by restrictions showed growth, including retail, hospitality, and travel industries.

There has been a substantial recovery in hiring activity in hotels, restaurants, airlines and travel (87 percent) and retail (57 percent) sectors in June compared to May, following the relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions on movement.

Sectors such as insurance witnessed a growth of 38 percent, banking and financial services (29 percent), and pharmaceuticals and biotech (22 percent) have also shown recovery.

Other sectors like FMCG (22 percent), education or teaching (15 percent), and BPO/ITES (14 percent) saw a positive sequential upswing in June compared to May.

When it came to cities, there was double-digit growth in hiring activity in almost all regions after near negative growth last month, the report said.

In Pune, hiring activity went up 10 percent, Hyderabad (10 percent), and Bengaluru (4 percent), maintaining their recent uptrend as they continue to fulfil the demand for skilled personnel in the IT sector.

Other metro cities like Delhi/NCR and Kolkata, which were negatively impacted in May, have recorded a 26 percent and 24 percent growth, respectively.

Among the Tier-II cities, Jaipur, with over 50 percent growth, and Vadodara, with 29 percent increase in hiring activity, were the best performers, providing further hope to aspirational job seekers in these areas, the report said.

Hiring demand for roles in marketing, advertising, media research, and public relations saw a growth of 39 percent while those in sales, business development grew by 32 percent, and human resource/administration by 31 percent. Banking and insurance saw a growth of 31 percent in hiring activity in June.

The Naukri JobSpeak index showed a 4 percent increase in demand for tech professionals as IT companies continue to bulk-hire talented professionals in 2021.

Hiring for teaching roles (9 percent) also saw growth in June compared to May.

The strong recovery of hiring at 15 percent in June, close on the heels of a decline in May, is encouraging. It is heartening to see sectors such as hospitality and retail responding positively after being impacted by the second COVID-19 wave, Naukri.com Chief Business Officer Pawan Goyal said.