Amid several layoffs in the global market, the Indian job market is showing signs of recovery from the pandemic effects on the hiring sentiments. According to Monster Employment Index,  Indian recruiters are also trying to maximise efficiency with the available resources. In September, the Index forecasted a steady month-on-month growth of 1% and a marginal 4% decline in hiring on an annual basis.  

Key highlights:

• The telecom sector has shown significant growth pushed by the rapid expansion of 5G. Hiring up by 13% as key players launch their digital services in different cities, expand their data center capabilities, and hire for specialised roles.
• With festive demands, sectors such as apparel, textiles, and jewellery (up 11%), production and manufacturing (up 5%), and retail (up 5%) have shown significant job growth.
• India continues to adopt a digital-first approach, with automation/office equipment hosting a 65% rise in demand for professionals. 
• Along the lines of digitisation, BFSI observed a consistent increase with 20% hiring growth especially in metro cities, while recruitment in travel & tourism rose by 9%. 
• Hospitality and travel have witnessed a steady rise of 8% in September as India enjoys restriction-free travel, with holidays and the festive season adding a fair cheer to the segment.
• Demand for HR professionals (up 9%) also kept up pace amidst rising attrition and the hunt for skilled talent by India Inc.

Decline:

• Industries such as media & entertainment (down 19%) witnessed a steep decline due to monitored spending by companies.
• Home appliances (down 19%) due to reduced consumer demand and rising raw material prices. The shipping and marine industry has also witnessed a noticeable dip of 18% in hiring as global trade volumes came down with the shrinking demand for goods. 
• Indian IT (down 11%) remains cautious with on-boarding activities as employers deal with rising attrition and changing workplace sentiments, and BPO/ITES (down 7%) reflect similar trends.
• Marketing-related jobs have seen a discouraging trend with falling demand for profiles in sales & business (down 5%) and marketing & comms. (down 6%). 
• Engineering/ production (down 19%), supply chain/logistics (down 18%), and healthcare (down 12%) also marked the steepest deceleration in hiring.

Commenting on job trends for September 2022, Sekhar Garisa, CEO - Monster.com, a Quess company said, "Lately, companies have opted to take a sustainable approach towards hiring, but we expect the momentum to pick up with growing public consumption and the swift scaling up of public infrastructure. With the launch of 5G by GoI, job market projections are looking optimistic, especially for telecom as we pave the way to Digital India. The path ahead paints a picture of tech-focused job roles; hence, skilling is of paramount importance for an employable India. Besides this, the festive season builds great revenue in sectors such as retail, e-commerce, travel, manufacturing, import & export and creates a holistic job market for the quarter in these industries. Moreover, we expect Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to potentially contribute to a large extent in the coming year.”