Manufacturing, electric vehicle and engineering companies, as well as the offshore facilities of multinationals, are hiring at their fastest pace in five years, boosting the overall recruitment activity at a time when demand for talent in the information technology sector has slowed down.
The hiring intent for 2024 is 19.8% in 2024 compared with 16% in 2023 which was also the highest since 2020, according to a study of 500 companies by Adecco, a staffing and HR solutions company. Fifty of these companies were listed, while the rest were startups and small and medium enterprises, with a majority of them having a headcount of more than 2,500.
“This is on the back of optimism in the economy, a surge in demand for skilled professionals across various domains, cooling labour markets in the West and shifting jobs to India,” said Karthikeyan Kesavan, director and head of permanent recruitment at Adecco India.
According to Adecco’s internal data across hiring platforms, the sectors listed have seen more than 10 million professionals changing jobs or getting hired in 2023, including both new hires and replacements.
The engineering sector includes automobile, aerospace & defence, chemical, agricultural & processed food products, electrical & electronics and industrial engineering.
Engineering and EV segments may outperform the rest in hiring this year, with a hiring intent of 25-30%, said Kesavan.
“Additionally, switching jobs might land you a raise of approximately 15% to 40%, with some companies in EV and engineering space offering double-digit salary increases even without switching in these sectors,” he said.
In the rapidly evolving job market of 2024, job seekers must embrace a mindset of lifelong learning, the findings of the study suggest.
Companies in the space of artificial intelligence and digital technology are likely to offer pay hikes of 8% to 12%.
Employees in roles including AI and digital technology, finance and accounting, human resources, legal, compliance, and sales and marketing, are likely to get substantial salary increases.
There is growing demand for consultants with expertise in digital transformation, ESG, business intelligence and automation. In the EV space, there is high demand for engineers specialising in battery technology, electric powertrains and vehicle design.
According to the report, 46% of Indian organisations are positioned to provide double-digit salary increments to their employees in 2024. The salary increases when switching jobs could surpass the overall average salary increase projected for the year.
