The hiring activity grew by 95% in June’21 as compared to June ‘20, indicating recovery, after being severely hit by lockdowns and the early impact of the pandemic, reveals a latest report by Naukri JobSpeak. Y-O-Y hiring in the IT-Software sector grew +163% in June'21 vs. June'20. Sectors such as Retail (+114%) and Telecom/ISP (+124%) which were still recovering from the first COVID wave and subsequent lockdown at the same time last year, also witnessed good Y-O-Y growth in June’21. Hiring has also picked up in the Insurance (+87%), Banking/Financial Services (+74%), Pharma/Biotech (+38%) and Teaching/Education (38%) sectors as compared to June’20.

In terms of monthly growth, the hiring trends improved by 15% in June’21 vs. May’21. Sectors like Retail, Hospitality and Travel, which had been severely hit by pandemic and subsequent restrictions have also witnessed some growth.

There has been a substantial recovery of hiring activity in Hotels/Restaurants/Airlines/Travel (+87%) and Retail (+57%) sectors in June’21 vs May’21, thanks to the relaxation of pandemic-related restrictions on movement. Sectors such as Insurance (+38%), Banking/Financial Services (+29%) and Pharma/Biotech (+22%) have also shown recovery from their recent slump. Other sectors like FMCG (+22%), Education/Teaching (+15%) and BPO/ITES (+14%) saw positive sequential upswing in June’21 vs May’21.

Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com said, “The strong recovery of the hiring sector at 15% in June ‘21, close on the heels of a decline in May ‘21 is encouraging. It is heartening to see sectors such as Hospitality (+87%) and Retail (+57%) responding positively after being impacted by the second Covid-19 wave.” Speaking on the performance of the IT sector, he adds, “Hiring in this sector has seen a 5% sequential month-on-month growth and more than 52% increase from June’19.”

Further, the demand for freshers has also increased. Hiring for all experience bands increased as organisations began to augment their employee base to handle growth. The 0-3 years  band saw a growth of 22%, which is cause for cheer for younger job seekers, as against the negative growth in May ‘21. Similarly, movement of senior professionals was also robust, as the 13-16 years (+11%), 8-12 years (+8%) and 16+ years (+10%) categories witnessed double digit growth. 

In terms of functions, professionals in the HR/Admin (+194%) and Banking/Insurance (+167%) domains witnessed significantly high demand in June’21, whereas IT-Software (+165%) and Travel/Airlines (+113%) professionals were also highly sought after as per the Y-O-Y hiring trends. Hiring in the 8-12 years (+116%) and 4-7 years (+102%) experience bands saw maximum traction in June '21 vs. June’20.

While the hiring increases, the availabaility of skills should also continue to compliement the need for talent. The workforce should be aware of the skills in demand and work on nurturing them to become more job-ready.