Key highlights:
- 21 industries marked positive year-on-year growth in February 2022 as compared to February 2021: Monster Employment Index
- Indian economy has recovered from the aftermath of the pandemic
- India strengthens its position as a prominent outsourcing destination in the world
- Good news for fresh graduates and entry level workforce
With the end of the third pandemic wave, hiring trends across industries looks optimistic, indicating a surging demand for talent for Jan-Jun 2022. According to the latest Monster Employment Index, industries and cities are recovering rapidly in hiring trends from the aftermath of the pandemic. All cities exhibited positive hiring patterns, with the national capital heading the list (Feb 2022 vs Jan 2021).
The data indicated that the BPO/ITes industry, which contributes nearly a tenth of the GDP, thus playing a vital role in the Indian economy, has shown a whopping 11% growth, strengthening India’s positioning as a prominent outsourcing destination in the world.
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Industry data indicating a promising year ahead
The report revealed that production and manufacturing, automotive/ancillaries/tyres and chemicals/plastic/rubber, paints, fertilizer/pesticides industries showed an upward trend with growth of 9%, 8%, and 7% respectively. It is also worth noting that industries that experienced a plunge in January also saw an uptick, with Education (4%) and Travel & Tourism (4%) returning into commission. Other industries that have seen recovery compared to previous months are FMCG, Food & Packaged Food (4%), Real Estate (4%), and Healthcare (4%).
The Banking/Financial Services and IT-Hardware & Software sectors have also witnessed a steady rise month on month with 2 and 1% growth respectively, establishing themselves as one of the contributing industries of India.
Industries to show a steep decline in job posting and hiring patterns comprise the Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/Steel (-8%) and Agro-based (-5%) industries, followed by Media & Entertainment (-4%), Retails (-2%), and NGO & Social Services ( -3%), signaling to only a partial recovery from Jan to Feb 2022.
Hiring trends witnessed an uptick
As per the Monster Employment Index, demand for talent saw a massive incline in 21 of 27 industries year-on-year (Feb 2022 vs Feb 2021). Office Equipment/Automation (103%) continues to grow as the adoption of technologies across varied sectors increases to improve efficiency and drive greater value. Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) continues to be one of the strongest sectors (27%) through long-term growth because of the surge in banking transactions and following investments in modern tech, whereas, Printing/ Packaging (23%) also saw an optimistic trend in online job demand.
The Shipping/Marine and Telecom industries also saw a positive growth (19% each), believed to be helped by the provisions announced under the budget. The tech sector unquestionably continues to perform well, showcasing rising growth, with the IT (Hardware/ Software) and BPO faring well with 18% and 17% growth, respectively. Industries such as Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences (9%) and Retail (8%) also demonstrated optimistic growth trends.
While these industries showed skyrocketing hiring trends, some saw a dip in hiring in February 2022. The Engineering, Cement, Construction, and Iron/ Steel industry witnessed a plunge with -23% growth, owing to the ongoing global supply chain crisis. On the other hand, Media & Entertainment (-13%) also experienced a sequential decline in hiring demand. Other industries to join the list include FMCG, Food & Packaged Food (-8%), and Education (-1%).
It’s worth noting that Travel & Tourism has exhibited a promising trend month on month, but its recovery (-5%) year-on-year has been slow because of the shutdowns and travel restrictions followed by the Omicron variant.
Hiring trends on different job levels
Across all experience levels, entry-level professionals (0-3 years) saw a stable incline of 2% in hiring activity, indicating good news for those graduating currently and planning to enter the workforce.
For intermediate-level professionals (4-6 years), the hiring demand was the highest, with a growth of 3%. On the other hand, there was a marginal increment in demand for Senior-level (11-15 years) and top management (>15 years) executives, with both levels registering a growth of 1%.
Mid-Senior-level professionals (7-10 years) also manifested a steady incline over the month. It is not worth noting that there has been no dip in demand for talent, regardless of their experience levels, compared to previous months.
The report also indicates that hiring demand for Top Management roles has witnessed an exceptional year-on-year growth of 42%. Companies continue to look for senior-level professionals to navigate instability and pandemic-induced challenges (Feb 2022 vs Feb 2021).
When it comes to hiring demand for Mid-Senior professionals (7-10 years), it also registered a surge of 25%, followed by the demand for Intermediate level (4-6 years) at 22% and Senior (11-15 years) professionals at 14%. However, demand for new talent also grew but only marginally with the rate of 5% annually.
Looking at the city index
All cities that the Index monitored showed an uptick in job postings, with the national capital, Delhi, leading with 13% growth, followed closely by Mumbai (8%), Chennai (7%), Ahmedabad (7%), Hyderabad (6%), Bangalore (6%), Coimbatore (6%), and Jaipur (6%).
Although February saw considerable dips in hiring due to feared shutdowns and restrictions, there has been a revival of hiring that has taken off across all cities, including Kolkata (5%). Baroda, or Vadodara, has also witnessed a significant revival compared to January, displaying a 5% increase in demand for talent of all levels(Feb 2022 vs Jan 2022).
February 2022, as compared to February 2021, was good for hiring patterns, with Coimbatore accounting for the highest growth for hiring at 21%, followed by Bangalore (20%), Chennai (17%), Mumbai (16%), Pune (15%), Hyderabad 14%), and Kolkata (12%). On the other hand, Delhi-NCR (11%) climbed the ladder, clocking substantial annual growth in February. Demand for talent, however, remained negative in cities like Chandigarh (-12%), Jaipur (-5%), Baroda (-4%), and Ahmedabad (-3%).
BFSI registered the highest growth across all metro cities, with Delhi about to replace Mumbai as the financial capital of India, showing a rise of 81% year-on-year, while Mumbai only posted a 53% growth. The IT-Hardware, and Software industry also exhibited double-digit growth across all the five major metro cities.
While the pandemic derailed the hiring patterns for almost two years, the year 2022 seems promising so far as per the Index. It is also worth noting the Indian economy has almost fully recovered from the impact of the pandemic, as indicated by the revival of various cities and industries in terms of hiring demand and patterns.
Reference: Hiring shows optimistic trend post 3rd wave: Monster Employment Index | Sudeshna Mitra | 10 Mar 2022
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