India Inc’s Hiring Volume Set To Reach 23%: Indeed Hiring Tracker

As the world gradually recovers from the pandemic, the job market is following suit; Findings from the quarterly hiring tracker released by the world’s #1 job site, Indeed, showcased that a 5% increase is likely in the proportion of employers hiring during April to June 2022 as compared to January to March 2022. The percentage increase in hiring volume is also likely to see a 3% increase to reach 23% during Q1, FY23 as compared to Q4, FY 22. The India Hiring Tracker of Q4, FY2022 analyzed employers and job seekers between January and March 2022, to understand the quantum of hiring and job-seeking activity, roles employers prioritized, expectations jobseekers held, and how all of this came together to facilitate a good match between the two sides.

The findings further revealed that first-time job seekers gained widespread acceptance from employers with nearly eight out of ten jobseekers surveyed (77%, up from 54% during the December 2021 quarter) securing their jobs during Q4, FY22. Most of the hiring of first-time job-seekers was from employers in the Information Technology (85%), Telecommunication (79%) and E-commerce (75%) sectors. 

Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India said, “The Indian job market has been on a tumultuous ride since the onset of the pandemic. However, with the decrease in number of COVID-19 cases and the re-opening of the economy in the past quarter, we have started seeing some stabilization in the job market. The increase in the hiring volume at the start of the financial year comes as great news for both employers and job seekers, it is bound to unlock a lot of growth opportunities. Infact, companies across sectors are already looking at ramping up their businesses and are focused on building skilled & resilient workforce, We foresee that this hiring momentum will continue to increase in the coming quarter as more employees return to office.”

Top roles and skills

The accelerated digitisation and strong growth in technology business has pushed the need for employees with specialized and niche skill set. As many as 71% of the employers hired for IT skills, matching jobseeker preference for IT skills in 29% of the cases. The job roles such as data science, analytics and other technology roles continue to be in demand. Simultaneously legacy roles such as sales, product managers too saw increased demand.

Python, C++, Ruby, and JavaScript skills continue to be the most desired tech skill by employers in this quarter (33%) as during the previous (29%). Cloud Computing skills (25%, up from 19%) retained the second spot during the quarter. This is reflective of the demand for tech skills in the wake of rapid digitization post the pandemic. 

Virtual Hiring continues to be favourable

While virtual hiring became more prominent due to the pandemic, it may be a long-term trend in some ways to make hiring quicker and easier. A strong 57% of employers favorably acknowledged the time and cost efficiency of virtual hiring, highlighting employers intent in leveraging virtual modes of recruitment. While there were few concerns of communication and technical issues, most jobseekers, found their virtual hiring experience to be positive. Infact, 60% stated that it was convenient, while only 10% stated that it was poor in terms of interactivity with management and fellow candidates.

The office is back - Is it going to be the same?

With the successful rollout of vaccines and reduction in Covid-19 cases, most employers (77%) plan on having their people working from the office. In contrast, 48% of employees and jobseekers preferred working from the office while 31% favoured remote or hybrid work as it offered more autonomy and flexibility. A majority of employers in E-commerce (95%) and Construction and Real Estate  (90%) preferred to have their staff working from the office, while 37% of employers in the Information Technology sector planned on having their employees working remotely.  Across cities, Chandigarh topped the list of cities where employers preferred to have people working from the office, while 26% of all employers in Mumbai and 21% of all employers in Bangalore preferred hybrid / remote work. 

MNCs as preffered place to work?

53% (up from 47% during the previous quarter) of all jobseekers wish to work in MNCs, while 13% (down from 22%) wish to work in Startups/SMEs. Across hierarchies and sectors, jobseekers preferred to work in MNCs, with Senior management (61%) candidates favoring it the most. Availability of hybrid work options, competitive salaries and better employee policies are some reasons why MNCs are preferred. Jobseekers in the Information Technology sector (71%), BFSI (66%), and Telecommunications, as well as E-Commerce (both at 61%), favored working in MNCs. Travel and Hospitality (51%), as well as Construction and Real Estate (55%), were among the few sectors where jobseekers preferred medium-sized companies over MNCs and Startups. Startups were popular among jobseekers in the E-commerce (32%) and BFSI (22%) sectors.