Demand for roles in healthcare increased by 6%, telecom and construction sectors show steepest monthly decline in job postings: Report

Across industries, the month of December 2021 saw retail and agro-based industries witnessing a positive incline of 12 per cent, on account of multi-channel approaches, technological adoption, and government initiatives. The demand for roles in healthcare witnessed a surge of 6 per cent on account of rising covid-19 cases in the country, while roles in HR & admin (5 per cent) and finance & accounts (4 per cent) also saw an uptick over the month.

A year-on-year (Dec 2021 vs Dec 2020) comparison indicates that industries such as Retail (14 per cent) and Travel & Tourism (4 per cent) witnessed a revival and are estimated to grow further in 2022. Further, Tier-2 cities such as Kolkata (13 per cent), Coimbatore (11 per cent), Kochi (5 per cent), and Baroda (2 per cent) observed a favourable rise in hiring activity along with metro cities.

Retail, Agro, FMCG, Real Estate and Healthcare sectors exhibit optimistic hiring trends

With the adoption of multi-channel approaches and enabling technologies, the retail (12 per cent) industry leads the way to recovery with the highest month-on-month growth in hiring intent. Agro-based industries (12 per cent) also projected positive growth trends, aided by government initiatives to strengthen agri-technology.

FMCG, food & packaged food (7 per cent), printing/packaging (7 per cent), banking/financial services, insurance (5 per cent) industries showcased a positive uptick. Industries such as Real Estate (6 per cent) which witnessed a spike in demand for office spaces, healthcare, biotechnology & life sciences, pharmaceuticals (4 per cent), and it-hardware, software (3 per cent) revived as compared to the previous month.

On the other hand, the telecom/ISP (-9 per cent) and engineering, cement, construction, iron/steel (-7 per cent) sectors showed the steepest monthly decline in job postings, followed by shipping/marine, logistic, courier/ freight/ transportation, travel and tourism, and education marking a 1 per cent decline in job posting activity respectively (Dec 2021 vs. Nov 2021).

On a year-on-year basis, hiring demand saw an incline in 22 out of 27 industries monitored by the Index. Office equipment/automation (86 per cent) continued to observe a substantial rise in job demand in the month of December 2021 given the immense adoption of automation across industries over the course of the pandemic (Dec 2021 vs Dec 2020).

Printing/packaging (36 per cent), BFSI (35 per cent), IT- Hardware, Software (30 per cent), and Telecom/ISP (23 per cent) also witnessed a jump in job posting activity. It is promising to note that industries such as Retail (14 per cent) and Travel & Tourism (4 per cent) are faring well in contrast to a dip in the previous months, as they pave the way to recovery from the ramifications of the pandemic.

Tier-2 cities indicate positive month-on-month recovery

Positively, 11 out of 13 cities monitored by the Index showed an optimistic outlook towards growth with Bangalore (5 per cent), Mumbai (4 per cent), Delhi-NCR (4 per cent), Hyderabad (4 per cent), Pune (3 per cent), Kolkata (3 per cent), Chennai (3 per cent), Kochi (3 per cent), Jaipur (3 per cent), Coimbatore (2 per cent), and Ahmedabad (1 per cent) looking up, while Chandigarh witnessed stabilized growth. As these cities saw dips in hiring activity in the previous month, it is reassuring to note this positive incline in December 2021.

The demand for talent in Tier-2 cities is estimated to improve in the coming months, with companies switching back to remote working in light of employee safety amidst rising Covid-19 cases. However, Baroda (-1 per cent) continued to show a slight decline in hiring activity, mainly due to the dip in the Media & Entertainment (-24 per cent) industry across the city (Dec 2021 vs Nov 2021).

In December 2021, as compared to December 2020, a similar trend followed, with a majority of cities showing a positive uptick in demand. Bangalore (29 per cent) accounted for the highest growth, followed by metros Hyderabad (22 per cent), Pune (20 per cent), Chennai (19 per cent), and Mumbai (15 per cent). Kolkata (13 per cent) continued to exhibit encouraging growth, as did Delhi-NCR (11 per cent), Coimbatore (11 per cent), Kochi (5 per cent), and Baroda (2 per cent).

Healthcare led with the highest intent to hire

As India grappled with the new Covid-19 variant Omicron and the understaffed healthcare industry, data from the Index indicates that the demand for medical professionals spiked in the month of December 2021 with a 6 per cent month-on-month growth (Dec 2021 vs Nov 2021).

HR & Admin (5 per cent), Finance & Accounts (4 per cent), Software, Hardware, Telecom (2 per cent), and Senior Management (2 per cent) followed with positive growth numbers. Hospitality & Travel roles witnessed muted growth in the month. Among functions, Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (-4 per cent), Customer Service (-1 per cent), and Arts/ Creative (-1 per cent) showcased a decline in hiring demand.

Hiring for roles in Software, Hardware, Telecom (29 per cent), Finance and Accounts (27 per cent), Senior Management (24 per cent), HR & Admin (21 per cent), and Marketing & Communications (3 per cent) saw a positive incline year-on-year (Dec 2021 vs Dec 2020). However, Sales & Business Development (-20 per cent) and Customer Service (-13 per cent) saw a consecutive dip this month, as well as Healthcare (-6 per cent) and Hospitality & Travel (-1 per cent) which witnessed a yearly de-growth on account of the pandemic.

Freshers and intermediate roles witness highest intent to hire in the month of December 2021

Across experience levels, the demand for Entry level roles (0-3 years) saw a positive incline in hiring activity, leading with the highest growth at 2 per cent. This indicates a promising outlook for freshers hiring in the months to come. Hiring demand for Intermediate level (4-6 years) also witnessed 2 per cent incline, Mid-Senior level (7-10 years) grew marginally at 1 per cent, and senior-level (11-15 years) witnessed muted growth. It is notable that, after months of positive growth, demand for Top Management (over 15 years) saw a downtrend with a 1 per cent decline in hiring activity in December 2021 (Dec 2021 vs Nov 2021).

Data from the Index indicates that demand for Top Management roles (over 15 years) witnessed considerable year-on-year growth at 64 per cent on account of increasing changes in company hierarchy and management over the course of the pandemic (Dec 2021 vs. Dec 2020). Mid-Senior level (7-10 years) professionals also saw positive growth of 37 per cent, Intermediate level (4-6 years) inclined by 30 per cent, and Senior level (11-15 years) an uptick of 21 per cent. Hiring demand for entry-level professionals (0-3 years) witnessed a comparatively marginal growth of 9 per cent in December 2021 as compared to the previous year.