As per the survey data gathered from the jobs board, TimesJobs, 63% of HR managers are still hiring amid the pandemic. Of this 63 %, the majority (65%) said they’re hiring only for niche roles. Next, 20% of respondents revealed that their organizations have suspended hiring activities for this year, followed by 15% of professionals who said that their companies would hire only for contractual job roles

The survey titled ‘Indian workplaces response to COVID-19’, which received responses from 1,145 HR managers from a variety of different sectors, also found that over a third (34%) of respondents are working “aggressively” to fix problems, find new solutions and ensure future business survival. 

While hiring may be continuing under COVID-19, around 42% of HR managers said their company has been using skills assessment tests, perhaps indicating a more rigorous recruitment process for these “niche” roles. 

Furthermore, a majority, or 61%, of HR managers proclaimed that hiring a diverse team was their top priority, even more so than factors such as learning and development and almost a quarter (24%) said they’d posted neutral job description to encourage a more diverse array of workers to apply during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Commenting on the findings, TimesJobs business head Sanjay Goyal said the fact companies were mainly hiring for niche jobs points to these organizations being “virtual-ready,” the ones who have “restructured/are restructuring their products and processes for customers and employees via technology.” In this vein, 49% of respondents said that their companies were investing in virtual work-ready modules as well as upskilling programs. 

From this data, it appears India’s HR managers haven’t stopped recruitment; they are just hiring more strategically, for niche professionals with specific, tested-for sets of skills. However, the respondents of the survey also ranked ‘freezing of hiring activities among corporates’ as the top trend that industry will witness in the future. Massive layoffs at different levels and growing culture of remote working was ranked as the second and the third factors that will shape the future of businesses in the coming times, followed by trends such as reduced job opportunities, surge in demand for technical staff and big reshuffles at leadership levels.