Professional recruitment services firm, Michael Page India has launched the ‘Talent Trends 2021 Report’, indicating optimistic recruitment trends across industries in 2021. The new normal signals a hybrid work culture, as firms and industries across sectors work towards a healthy recovery with a renewed positive outlook

The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted economies across the Asia Pacific, including India. India entered 2020 with robust hiring activities, however, the pandemic led to a dip in hiring activities by 18 percent in 2020. With that said, optimism is already starting to show, with about 53 percent of companies in India looking to increase their headcounts in 2021. 

Nicolas Dumoulin, Managing Director of Michael Page India, says, “Technology and healthcare sectors witnessed significant activity even during the lockdown phase given the sudden increase in demand for relevant talent across functions. Hiring activities among internet-based businesses such as e-commerce and educational technology (ed-tech), remained relatively robust across India and is expected to maintain the momentum in 2021 as well.”

According to the report, India projects an optimistic outlook for 2021. 60 percent of the employers intend to increase salaries while 55 percent of the companies plan to give out bonus payments with 43 percent of them looking to give out more than one month’s worth of bonus. 

The healthcare sector is expected to see the largest percentage rise in salary at an average increase of 8percent, followed by FMCG (7.6 percent) and E-commerce/Internet Services (7.5 percent). The technology boom in India has only further accelerated especially in the SaaS, health-tech, ed-tech, and gaming industries with rising demand for professionals in the Artificial Learning and Machine Learning space. 

Many companies have capitalized on the availability of Indian techies looking to return to India as a result of the pandemic. 74 percent of technology companies in India expect a 14 percent increase in headcount. Companies are open to considering talent remotely available and offer flexibility to the right candidate for remote working arrangements or hybrid work model. 

As companies move towards recovery the following are key trends are emerging and likely to continue in the next few years:

• Irrespective of market conditions, candidates with the right combination of experience and soft skills will continue to demand high salaries
• Contractors and temp staff will be in high demand as they offer the required flexibility in times of uncertainty
• Companies will need to better define and communicate their vision and mission to prospective employees
• Soft skills such as leadership, teamwork, relationship management, and communication will help differentiate between good and great talent
• The human side of the recruitment process such as cultural fit, growth potential, and evaluating soft skills will become increasingly important in relation to growth opportunities

Nicolas Dumoulin, Managing Director of Michael Page India observes, “As we see the economy moving towards recovery, companies will look at a strategy that will ensure retaining existing talent and hiring talent to bridge the skill gap, especially specialized talent in certain key growing areas in technology and healthcare. Companies will be looking at a dynamic working culture along with competitive remuneration and benefits package to attract talent. Start-ups in India examined their core businesses and retrained their focus on profitability last year, while larger conglomerates, took the time to increase their reach and influence and establish new lines of business. This will continue in 2021.”