Monster India released its Employment Index 2015. As per the report, Hiring activity on the whole has surged in the country since January 2015. Logistic, Courier/Freight/Transportation exhibit the most notable annual growth among industry sectors. Kochi followed by Baroda records the steepest growth in online recruitment activity between March 2014 and 2015. In terms of the year-on-year trend, Arts/Creative leads charts the strongest annual growth.

Industry Year-over-year Trends: Online recruitment activity exceeded the year-ago level in 14 of the 27 industry sectors monitored by the Index.

Logistic, Courier/Freight/Transportation (up 41 per cent) registered steep growth in online hiring activity. The sector leads all other monitored sectors consequent upon a 38 per cent month-on-month growth; also the highest among industry sectors.

Hiring in the Banking/Financial Services, Insurance (up 38 per cent) sector also pumped up. The sector ranked second in terms of long-term gain. There has been a 59 per cent growth in opportunities in the sector from six-month ago.

Online recruitment activity in Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/Steel (up nine per cent) exceeded the year-ago level for the second month in a row. The long-term growth momentum improved between February and March 2015.

Online recruitment activity in Automotive/Ancillaries /Tyres (down seven per cent) sector eased from the year-ago level yet again.

Education (down nine per cent) marked the sixth successive year-on-year decline of the series this month.

Shipping/Marine (down 44 per cent) continues to chart the most dramatic annual decline among all industry sector.

Occupation year-over-year trends: Online demand improved in 12 of the 13 occupation groups monitored by the Index.

Arts/Creative professionals led all occupation groups, year-on-year. The rate of growth nevertheless was the same as that in February 2015; up by 59 per cent. There has been a 45 per cent growth in demand for the group in the last six months since September 2014 also the highest among all occupation groups.

Customer Service (up four per cent); Purchase/ Logistics/ Supply Chain (up six per cent); and HR and Admin (up four per cent) witnessed a positive growth in demand following low levels in January and February. Health Care (up five per cent) also reported a positive growth in demand from the year-ago.

Legal was the only group to exhibit fewer opportunities on the year. Online demand for legal professionals was four per cent below March 2014. The rate of growth has nevertheless shown signs of improvement between February and March 2015.

Geographic year-over-year trends: All 13 cities monitored by the index exhibited positive year-on-year growth this month.

Kochi (up 36 per cent) supplanted Baroda (up 34 per cent) and registered the steepest annual growth. Both these cities saw notable increase in the long-term growth momentum between February and March 2015.

Mumbai (up 18 per cent) and Bangalore (up two per cent) charted positive annual growth having eased in February 2015. Bangalore’s year-on growth was the most restrained among all monitored cities. This month Jaipur also exhibited a positive annual growth of four per cent.

“The Monster Employment Index exhibits a robust 18 per cent growth as compared to 2014. There has been resurgence in the overall hiring activity since January 2015. With the revival of investment activities and renewed optimism in India Inc., the recruitment market has been galvanized and we expect the momentum to continue in the coming quarters. Geographically, Mumbai is leading the tally, registering an annual growth of 18 per cent. Our index has captured annual progressive growth in the major employment generating sectors- Logistic, Courier/Freight/Transportation, Banking/ Financial Services, Insurance and Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/ Steel. The hiring sentiment is further expected to be bullish in sectors like infrastructure, e-commerce, logistics, FMCG, consumer durables and financial services,” said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com