The recruitment indices for December 2016 show an inclination towards hiring experienced professionals, with an 11% rise in demand for mid-level professionals who have 2-5 years of experience. Professionals with 10-20 years of experience saw 10% rise in demand and those with over 20 years of experience also saw 9% rise in demand in December 2016.

Professionals with 2 to 5 years of experience have the right combination of experience, energy and passion to adapt quickly, pick up new skills, and capitalize on training and development opportunities to accelerate both their own and the company's growth." said Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions.

As part of the year-end RecruiteX report, TimesJobs includes a special retrospective ‘Recruitment Practices Survey 2016’ with inputs from over 800 employers to capture how recruitments panned out over the year. The findings of this survey corroborated facts from December 2016 RecruiteX report with 60% surveyed employers claiming that middle level staff was indeed the most hired experience category of 2016, followed by junior level employees (25%) and senior staff (15%).

Among industries, IT, BPO/ITeS, automobile, BFSI and healthcare sectors mostly hired for the mid-level while Manufacturing and Retail sectors hired most at junior levels.

2016: A better hiring year compared to 2015

According to the RecruiteX report hiring posted an average 2% rise during Nov-Dec 2016. While November saw a 10% rise in demand, December 2016 registered a 6% drop. Nonetheless, overall 2016 was a better year for recruitment than 2015, according to the ‘Recruitment Practices Survey 2016’ with nearly 60% employers saying that overall hiring had improved in 2016, in comparison to 2015.

Of the 60% employers who said hiring had improved in 2016, 75% said it was up by less than 5%, 20% said it was up by between 5-10% and 5% said it had grown by over 10%.

About 10% said hiring was comparatively slower than last year while 30% it was stable and no major changes were recorded.

Industry-wise analysis revealed, 60% IT sector and BFSI sector employers stated hiring was up in 2016, compared to 2015, 50% employers in the manufacturing sector said it was up, 70% of healthcare sector employers said it was up and 50% BPO/ITeS employers said hiring was higher this year compared to 2015. About 50% employers of automobile sector said hiring was stable in their sector and there were no major changes in hiring volume compared to 2015.

Hiring grew for core roles, BFSI topped the charts

Demand for banking, insurance and financial services (BFSI) professionals peaked during December 2016 with a 9% rise according to the RecruiteX.

Business management, consultants, freelancers and HR professionals saw a 12% rise last month. Demand for entertainment, media and journalism professionals also grew by 5% in December 2016. Engineering, IT, telecom, sales and business development professionals were the also in-demand during December 2016, according to the RecruiteX report by TimesJobs. These posted a 4% rise in demand during the month.

Core profiles were most demand in 2016, stated 55% employers, while 45% hired mostly for support roles, revealed the ‘Recruitment Practices Survey 2016’ retrospective report.  Sector-wise IT, manufacturing, healthcare and BFSI sectors hired for core profiles while retail and automobile sector hired in support roles, for the most part in 2016.

More women brought on rolls in 2016

Interestingly, 60% employers claimed in the ‘Recruitment Practices Survey 2016’ that they hired up to 5% more women professionals in 2016 as compared to 2015.

IT and healthcare sectors were the frontrunners in hiring women professionals, with 70% healthcare sector employers and 65% IT sector employers claiming to hire up to 5% more women staff in 2016.

BPO, BFSI and automobile employers also stated they had hired more women professionals compared to 2015.

Employer's hiring channels of choice

Recruitment portals were the preferred hiring channel during the year, as per 40% employers, this was followed by social media and referrals, reveals the ‘Recruitment Practices Survey 2016’ retrospective report.

Challenges that remain

For nearly 30% organizations the biggest hiring challenge of 2016 was sourcing the right talent, for 25% it was screening talent, another 25% felt there were skill shortages and for 20% dropouts were the biggest challenge, according to the ‘Recruitment Practices Survey 2016’.