Hiring in the organised sector increased by 11 per cent in the quarter ended June, the latest edition of Indeed India Hiring Tracker showed on Monday.
Standout growth was witnessed in information technology (61 per cent), financial services (48 per cent) and BPO/ITeS (47 per cent) as the job market begins showing signs of recovery from Covid second wave.
Large businesses continued to dominate hiring activity (59 per cent of employers) while hiring by mid-sized businesses saw a decline (38 per cent).
Bengaluru continued to lead hiring (56 per cent) and Kolkata replaced Chennai at the bottom of hiring list (34 per cent).
The survey was conducted by Valuvox on behalf of online job hiring site Indeed among 1,500 employees and 1,200 businesses across nine cities in June.
Receding Covid cases and partial lockdowns in Q1 FY22 allowed businesses to operate, focussing employers on roles driving sales and revenue — a shift from the focus on operational roles to stabilise business operations in Q4 FY21.
Roles such as sales coordinator (83 per cent of all employer respondents), relationship manager (77 per cent), digital marketer (69 per cent), UI/UX designer (61 per cent) and quality analyst (53 per cent) were the most in demand.
The widespread impact second wave resulted in understaffed teams and increased employee burnout. However, 76 per cent of jobseekers surveyed did not receive Covid-related benefits/compensation packages or mental health support.
Appraisal plans were also impacted. About 70 per cent of employees said that they did not receive any promotion or pay increase this quarter with only 11 per cent of employers promoting or offering salary increases.
Employers and employees are not on the same page when it comes to future work models. Employers preferred a hybrid work model (42 per cent) to remote work (35) while jobseekers favoured remote working (46 per cent) over a hybrid approach (29 per cent).
Nearly 51 per cent of women compared to 29 per cent of men said they wanted to continue working from home while 52 per cent of senior management preferred working from home compared to 36 per cent of middle level and 31 per cent of junior level employees.
The number of job seekers and job changers increased slightly over the previous quarter (70 per cent vs 68 per cent) with 52 per cent at entry level, 44 per cent mid-level and 18 per cent senior level.
Jobseeker priorities also shifted with 25 per cent saying salary was their primary focus followed by career growth (19 per cent), learning opportunities/challenges/responsibilities (16 per cent) and company reputation (14 per cent).
Startup-SME jobs were the top picks for post-graduates (44 per cent) and mid-level job seekers (42 per cent). While preference for roles in MNCs/large companies (43 per cent) was marginally more widespread during Q1 FY22 than during the previous quarter (38 per cent).
Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales of Indeed India, said as businesses continue to find a rhythm of working through multiple pandemic challenges, the tracker reflects the resilience of India’s labour market.
“With hiring activity seeing a month-on-month increase, it was interesting to see businesses pivot their hiring priorities from operation roles to sales roles,” he said.
“It is also clear that paying attention to employee expectations will enable them to thrive, so ongoing conversations around well-being and hybrid work are vital.”
