India’s white-collar job market brought some fresh cheer in the last two weeks of May, adding about 150,000 vacancies to the count of active job openings, according to data from official company job pages on LinkedIn and direct postings on top job boards.
The total number of active jobs that were open and accepting applications at the end of May stood at 205,000 as Covid-19 cases dropped, especially in the metro cities which account for the bulk of white-collar jobs, and there were renewed signs of positivity among companies as more and more people got vaccinated.
The job numbers in May were 23% higher year-on-year, showed the data put together by specialist staffing firm Xpheno.
This came after a 31% drop in active job counts in April, as panic set in amid spiralling Covid-19 cases as well as clampdowns in several states, and the first two weeks of May that saw just about 60,000 white-collar jobs being added.
“The second half of May witnessed a 250% spike in hiring intensity against the steep dip of jobs in the first half of the month,” said Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno. “June may well be the best month for hiring in the last 15 months.”
The rise in the number of jobs in the past two weeks was mostly on the back of a few sectors including IT, ITeS, ecommerce and platform-based companies, and BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance). On the other hand, bricks-and-mortar sectors in industries such as manufacturing, industrial, fast-moving consumer goods and automobile continued to be subdued.
Economists and industry experts were split in their views on the job scenario in the next three-six months. While some said the rest of the year would remain subdued except in select pockets such as IT and tech-enabled businesses, which are also the largest recruiters of white-collar workers, others were more positive about a strong bounceback in the next few months amid expectations of pickup in demand and revival in consumption.
However, they agreed that much would depend on how the virus is kept under control and how fast people are vaccinated.
“The numbers are indicative that things are opening up and companies are employing people, but a large part of it could also be replacement hiring,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings. “I see a fairly bland year overall for jobs ahead… sectors such as IT, BFSI, broking will add more jobs while those with weak turnover in sectors such as FMCG, industrial, manufacturing and auto will have to keep their hiring muted or maybe see some shedding.”
However, human resources heads of large Indian companies and senior executives were bullish about upcoming buoyancy in the white-collar job market on the back of expected revival in the economy.
“Overall I am bullish about the white-collar job market. I am not holding back or cutting down on any hiring,” said S Venkatesh, president, group HR at RPG Group, a diversified conglomerate with presence in IT, infrastructure, tyre and life sciences. “I see the job market booming in sectors such as IT and ITeS where demand for talent is going through the roof. Infrastructure hiring will also pick up. Auto and auto related businesses may see a temporary dip.”
Concurred Yashwant Mahadik, global HR president at Lupin: “I see a very fast recovery and pickup in demand as more people get vaccinated.” He said there will be a lot of demand for talent that has been constantly upgrading and upskilling themselves during the pandemic.
“Demand for talent in technology is at an all-time high and will go up even more as companies fast-track their digitisation plans,” said Krishna Kumar, CEO, Simplilearn.