White-collar hiring in India witnessed a 2 per cent year-on-year growth in March, mainly driven by demand in retail, telecom and tourism sectors, a report said on Tuesday.
Foundit Insights Tracker (FIT) report showed that the 2 per cent increase in hiring was due to a growing demand for talent across key sectors, such as retail, telecom and travel and tourism on an annual basis
White-collar hiring in India witnessed a 2 per cent year-on-year growth in March, mainly driven by demand in retail, telecom and tourism sectors, a report said on Tuesday.
However, on a month-on-month basis, job posting activity declined by 1 per cent as several sectors slowed down their hiring processes, the report added.
Foundit Insights Tracker (FIT) report showed that the 2 per cent increase in hiring was due to a growing demand for talent across key sectors, such as retail, telecom and travel and tourism on an annual basis (March 2023 vs March 2022).
With rising uncertainties on the back of international developments, such as shifts in the US economic policies, including H1-B visas, and volatile oil prices, job creation rates have stabilised on the whole, according to the report.
The Foundit Insights Tracker report, earlier known as Monster Employment Index, is a comprehensive monthly analysis of job posting activity online across recruitment platforms.
The report further revealed that hiring demand in media and entertainment and import-export saw a 12-13 per cent decline in March, while IT, telecom and manufacturing witnessed a 3-4 per cent fall (March 2023 vs February 2023).
Interestingly, the report reflected rising demand for gig workers in the white-collar space with 11 per cent year-on-year growth.
Regarding skilling and training of the youth, interns in sales and business development as well as marketing roles were the most sought after by companies.
"It is interesting to see the continued growth of the gig economy in the Indian white-collar space, as companies look at easier onboarding processes and higher cost savings. We have certainly seen newer trends emerge over the last few years with constantly evolving workplace preferences and a greater focus on employee well-being," Foundit (previously Monster APAC & ME), a Quess company, CEO Sekhar Garisa said.
He said tech disruptions like the most recent ChatGPT are revolutionising and paving new paths for every industry.
"It is important to note that such technologies hold the potential to create employment opportunities, re-iterating the crucial need for upskilling not only for entry-level professionals but the entirety of the Indian workforce," he added.
Industries such as IT (22 per cent), recruitment and staffing (18 per cent) and education and edtech (13 per cent) account for the largest share of demand for gig jobs, the report revealed.
In terms of cities, Ahmedabad witnessed the highest annual growth in online hiring activity with a 12 per cent rise, followed by Mumbai (3 per cent), Chandigarh (2 per cent) and Jaipur (1 per cent).
However, Kolkata witnessed a 24 per cent decline in the job posting, followed by Bangalore (15 per cent), Coimbatore (9 per cent) and Hyderabad (7 per cent), the report said.