May has been showing growth in the job market despite the second wave and lockdowns as overall job postings have increased by 4 per cent year-on-year (May 2021 versus May 2020), according to a report.
When it comes to hiring for the Top Management level professionals, with 16 or more years of work experience, witnessed a growth of 66 per cent year-on-year (May 2021 versus May 2020), as per job analysis report Monster Employment Index (MEI) by Monster.com, a Quess Company.
While April 2021 witnessed a dip in job postings given the onset of the second wave of the pandemic, May 2021 showed green shoots of recovery. IT – Hardware, Software hiring witnessed a year-on-year growth of 67 per cent in Bangalore and 49 per cent in Hyderabad. Industries that indicate the highest year-on-year growth in hiring across the key cities are Banking/ Financial Services, Insurance and IT – Hardware, Software, according to a statement.
Among the functions, Software, Hardware, Telecom indicate growth across all the key cities such as Bangalore (79 per cent), Hyderabad (62 per cent), and Chennai (50 per cent). Overall recruitment activities showed a phenomenal uptrend in most of the cities year-on-year.
Job postings across industries indicate a promising uptick year-on-year
The report said 45 per cent of the industries indicate positive month-on-month (May 2021 versus April 2021) growth in job postings, with Retail (24 per cent), Home Appliances (13 per cent), and Telecom/ISP (10 per cent) industries showing the highest growth. Other industries that are doing well compared to the previous month include IT – Hardware, Software, Banking/ Financial Services, Insurance, Office Equipment/Automation, and Healthcare, Bio Technology & Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals.
Indicating a downward trend, the Travel and Tourism (-13 per cent), Import/ Export (-11 per cent), and Printing/ Packaging (-8 per cent) continue to face the challenges of the pandemic with a decline in job postings.
A year-on-year (May 2021 versus May 2020) comparison shows hiring in 56 per cent of the industries fared better as compared to the same time last year. It indicates that companies and employers are now better equipped to face the pandemic, despite the effect of the second wave. IT – Hardware, Software (29 per cent), Logistic, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation (25 per cent) and Telecom/ISP (23 per cent) industries indicated the highest growth in job postings. However, Travel and Tourism job postings again showed a year-on-year decline with a 49 per cent decline in May 2021. Education (-31 per cent) and Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/ Steel (-20 per cent) industries also witnessed a decline in hiring activities, year-on-year.
Technology hubs- Bengaluru and Hyderabad rule year-on-year growth in hiring
A monthly comparison (May 2021 versus April 2021) shows growth in job postings at Kolkata (7 per cent), Bengaluru (5 per cent), Kochi (2 per cent), and Pune (1 per cent). It is promising for cities such as Kolkata that have seen multiple dips in hiring as per previous MEI reports. Compared to April 2021, Ahmedabad (-10), Chandigarh (-6 per cent), and Jaipur (-5 per cent) witnessed a dip in job postings as of May 2021.
Year-on-year (May 2021 versus May 2020) data indicates that the tech hubs of India show promising growth in hiring, the cities such as Bengaluru (46 per cent) and Hyderabad (26 per cent) have witnessed the highest growth in job postings.
When it comes to Year-on-Year, recruitment activities showed a phenomenal uptrend in most cities such as Pune (+25 per cent), Chennai (+21 per cent), Delhi-NCR (+6 per cent), Mumbai (+5 per cent), Kochi (+1 per cent). However, job postings have shrunk in Kolkata (-16 per cent), Jaipur (-17 per cent), and Baroda (-18 per cent) as of May 2021 compared to last year.
An increase in hiring for Engineering/ Production and Purchase/ Logistics/ Supply Chain may be driven by e-commerce
On a month-on-month (May 2021 versus April 2021) basis, Engineering/ Production (7 per cent), Software, Hardware, Telecom (6 per cent), and Purchase/ Logistics/ Supply Chain (3 per cent) functions highlights an increase in job postings. It could be the result of increased reliance on e-commerce, driven by the lockdowns across the country. However, hiring in Hospitality & Travel (-9 per cent), Customer Service (-6 per cent), and Arts/Creative (-4 per cent) functions declined during the same period.
Functions such as Software, Hardware, Telecom (32 per cent), and Senior Management (15 per cent) indicate a positive uptick in job postings year-on-year (May 2021 versus May 2020, while Customer Service (-34 per cent) and Sales & Business Development (-22 per cent) indicate the most decline in hiring.
Job postings for intermediate to top management level roles witnessed a strong increase
Similar to the last month’s MEI trend regarding experience level-based hiring, month-on-month (May 2021 versus April 2021) growth in job postings has witnessed across most job levels, except for entry-level jobs that saw a dip in demand by -2 per cent. Top Management professionals (20 per cent), Mid-Senior professionals (1 per cent), and Intermediate roles (1 per cent) witnessed positive month-on-month growth. Hiring demand for Senior Management professionals (0 per cent) remains neutral.
Online hiring for Top Management levels greater than 16 years of experience witnessed a spike of 66 per cent compared to last year (May 2021 versus May 2020). Those for Senior Management professionals (11-15 years), Mid-Senior professionals (7-10 years), and Intermediate roles (4-6 years) saw an increase of 14 per cent, 20 per cent, and 13 per cent Year-On-Year. However, job postings for entry-level profiles (0-3 years) have declined by 11 per cent Year-On-Year (May 2021 versus May 2020).
Sekhar Garisa, CEO, Monster.com, said, “It is promising to see an improvement in hiring despite the impact of the second wave of the pandemic. Industries and functions have now learned to adapt to the current situation and hence the disruption are lesser in the hiring plans.”
“Some industries have significant tailwinds due to the new normal and are flourishing in the new, dynamic environment. With Government & Organizations across the board working on an aggressive vaccination program, we are hopeful for quicker restoration of normalcy and accelerated hiring scenario,” Garisa added.
The period considered for the MEI data was 1st to 31st May 2021.
The increased requirement for healthcare and life insurance has had a less impact on hiring in sectors such as insurance (-5%), pharma/biotech (-9%), and medical/healthcare (-10%) in April.
According to Indeed’s India Hiring Tracker Q4 FY21, as many as two-thirds (64 per cent) of all employers surveyed hired talent during the fourth quarter of 2020-21. Also, 61 per cent of all jobseekers surveyed looked for a job (or change of job) during this period.