Indian Job Market May Witness Positive Hiring In Third Quarter

India may witness a positive stride towards job opportunities, after facing slump in almost all the industry sectors.  

India's job market has had a few rough quarters as hiring activity has slumped and there have been reports of layoffs by major IT companies at the start of the year. However, job seekers can expect better opportunities in the coming months, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for October-December quarter.

Out of the 5005 employees’ surveyed, 24 per cent of the employers forecast an increase in staffing levels. Hiring pace would remain slow compared to July-September last year, despite hiring prospects showing an improvement of 4 per cent.

The expected rebound in hiring will make India the third most optimistic market for skilled professionals behind Japan and Taiwan, the ManpowerGroup survey said.

The Outlook in India has rebounded slightly from the prior quarter when Indian employers reported the weakest forecast since the survey started in 2005. Industry sector forecasts remain mostly weaker than year-ago levels, but improve by varying degrees in most sectors in a quarter-over-quarter comparison.

The highest job growth in the fourth quarter is expected in the Services, Transportation and Utilities sectors. The services sector is going to be the biggest job market and will increase its hiring by 23 per cent in the December quarter, showing a good improvement from the previous quarter, where it had seen a 15 per cent increase.

Employers in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector expect a slight decline of 2 percentage points, the survey showed.

Employers in all the four regions of the country are optimistic of increasing staffing levels, with the strongest labor market anticipated by employers in the North, who reported a Net Employment Outlook of +27 percent. In the south, employers expect a favorable hiring pace outlook of +20 percent, while good monetary gains of 15 percent are anticipated in the West. However, the most concerning regional outlook of +7 percent is reported in the East.