The Naukri JobSpeak Index for the month of January 2020 (2,381), marked a 6% rise in hiring activity as compared to January 2019 (2,251). 

The major contributors to growth in hiring were industries like Accounting & Finance (37%), Education/Teaching (23%), Insurance (19%) and BPO/ITES (18%) while industries like Pharma (-5%) and Auto (-25%) witnessed a dip in recruitment activity. Demand for job roles in Teaching & Education (20%), BPO/ITES (17%), Accounting (14%) and Sales/Business Development (10%) also led to the overall uptick in hiring. 

The job markets in Hyderabad (7%), Pune (7%) and Kolkata (6%) picked up on hiring activity and have consistently grown over the past year. Bangalore and Chennai saw negative growth in hiring at 3% and 4% respectively. Demand for entry-level professionals (0-3 years exp.) and senior-level executives (4-7 years exp.) grew by 10% and 7% respectively in January’20 YoY.

Commenting on the report, Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com said, “The year has started on a cautious note with hiring activity growing by 6% in January’ 20 versus an average of 10% in the last quarter. While the Auto and Hotels & Hospitality industry continues to see a dip in hiring, the demand in Accounting & Finance and Education & Teaching industry maintains a buoyant mood. After a negative hiring growth in most of 2019, the telecom industry sees revival in recruitment activity for the past four months.” 

Key Highlights of Naukri JobSpeak for January 2020 vs January 2019

Hiring Trends - Industry

Besides Accounting/Finance, other industries that showed growth in hiring activity during the month of January 2020 were - Education/Teaching(23%), BPO/ITES (18%), Insurance (19%), Telecom (17%), Banking (4%) and Oil & Gas (4%). The IT-Software industry posted a single-digit growth of 9% in January 20 versus an average YoY growth of 29% in 2019. The hiring in industries like Pharma (-5%), Hotels & Hospitality (5%) and Auto (-25%) witnessed a dip in January 20 versus last year same time.

The hiring activity in the Telecom Industry sees revival trends with consistent growth in the past four months when compared year on year. After a negative hiring growth in most of 2019, the growth picked up momentum in September 2019. The recruitment activity sees a growth of 17% in January 20. 

Hiring Trends – Functional Area

Recruitment activities for professionals in the Teaching/Education domain witnessed an encouraging growth of 20%. Functional roles in ITES/BPO (17%), Accounting (14%), Sales/ Business Development (10%) and Marketing & Advertising (7%) also witnessed a growth in hiring. However, Hotels & Hospitality, HR/Administration and Legal roles saw a dip of 3%, 7%, and 16% respectively.

Hiring Trends - Experience

Hiring by experience levels was a mixed bag with demand for entry-level executives (0-3 yrs. exp.) leading the way with 10% YoY growth. The demand for senior-level executives (4-7 yrs. exp.) and middle - management roles (8-12 yrs. exp.) grew by 7% and 1% respectively. Hiring for both senior management roles (13-16 yrs. exp.) and leadership roles (16+ yrs. exp.) saw a dip of 8% & 10% respectively.

Hiring Trends - City

Recruitment across cities was positive during the month of January’20 with Hyderabad & Pune witnessing an increase of 7% YoY, followed by Kolkata with an increase of 6%. Some of the hiring trends observed across key cities are as follows -

●Hyderabad: Hiring in Hyderabad increased by 7%. BPO (24%), Accounting (22%) and IT-Software (13%) lead the way, while BPO/ITES roles witnessed an increase of 20%. Hiring for entry-level executives (0-3 years) and mid-level executives (4-7 years) also grew by 15% and 11% respectively.

●Pune: The city saw a 7% rise in recruitment activity. Accounting, BPO and IT-Software industries recorded growth rates of 29%, 28% and 19% respectively. Amongst experience bands, Pune mirrored the trends prevalent nationally, with growth across entry-level executive (10%), mid-management (9%) and senior-level executive (8%) hiring. Hiring activity in IT-Hardware & BPO/ITES roles grew by 31% and 25% respectively.

●Delhi/NCR: Hiring activity in the capital city witnessed an increase of 3% primarily led by hiring in the BPO sector (40%). Other industries that witnessed an uptick in hiring were Accounting (28%) & IT-Hardware (28%). Demand for job roles across Pharma & BPO/ ITES grew by 10% and 8% respectively. Hiring in the entry-level executive band grew by 2%.

●Mumbai: Recruitment in Mumbai increased by 4% in January 2020. Hiring in the BPO sector was up by 41%. This was followed by the IT - Software & IT-Hardware industries with an increase of 28% & 23% respectively. The demand for job roles across BPO/ ITES & IT - Software increased by (29%) and (20%) respectively.

●Bangalore: Overall hiring activity in Bangalore witnessed a drop of 3%. There has been a dip in hiring across experience bands. However, hiring in Accounts and BPO industry witnessed a growth of 56% and 22% respectively. The demand for Accounting roles also grew by 53%. 

●Chennai: Recruitment activities in Chennai dropped by 4%. Auto & BFSI Industry showed a de-growth of 34% & 22% respectively. However, demand for Banking (43%) & Accounting (24%) roles recorded growth. Hiring in entry-level professionals witnessed positive growth of 5% whereas growth in senior-management bands was negative.