The Naukri JobSpeak Index for May’ 2020, at 910, marks a decline of 61% in hiring activity as compared to May’ 2019 at 2,346, led by the extension of nation-wide lockdown due to the on-going crisis. This is the second consecutive month where the hiring activity has registered a dip of more than 60%.

The May’ 2020 decline in hiring is led by industries like Hotel/Restaurant/Travel/Airlines (-91%), Retail (-87%), Auto/Ancillary (-76%), and BFSI (-70%). The job market across cities registered a double-digit dip in hiring of more than 50%. The decline was led by metros wherein Kolkata declined by 68% followed by Delhi (-67%) and Mumbai (-67%). There was an across the board decline in hiring at varied experience levels with the entry-level experience bands (0 to 3 yrs exp) witnessing the sharpest decline of 66%. 

While the hiring activity is down by 61%, it is encouraging to see that more than 50% of jobseekers are utilizing the time at hand due to the lockdown for self-development and career advancement, as per the latest Naukri survey conducted with 50,000 jobseekers. Data Science & Analytics courses (22%) followed by Digital Marketing (20%) and Finance and Risk Management (16%) were amongst the top courses being picked up by jobseekers to up-skill themselves. 

Referring to the report, Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com said, “The extension of the lockdown has resulted in a continued decline in hiring activity for the third consecutive month. In a recently conducted survey with recruiters and HR heads, about 39% said that critical hiring is still taking place and we are seeing the same on the site with industries such as Pharma, Healthcare, Insurance and IT-Software posting jobs  during the lockdown. At our end, we are also making all efforts to ensure that hiring and discovery of talent is effortless and under the ‘Step-Up’ initiative, have enabled easy access and discovery of laid-off jobseekers to recruiters.”

Key Highlights of the report

Hiring Trends - Industry

Besides de-growth in hiring in Hotel/Restaurants/Travel/Aviation by 91%, other key industries that showed a decline in hiring activity in May’ 2020 versus last year same time were - Retail (-87%), Auto/Ancillary (-76%), BFSI (-70%), Accounting/Taxation/Finance (-69%), BPO/ITES/CRM/Transcription (-63%) and IT-Hardware (-58%). However, hiring activity in Medical/Healthcare/Hospitals (-20%) Pharma/Biotech/Clinical Research (-48%), IT-Software/Software Services (-54%) and Insurance (-55%) was less impacted as compared to other industries in May 2020.

Hiring Trends – Functional Area

New jobs for professionals in the Ticketing/Travel/Airlines and Hotel/Restaurant sectors witnessed a dip of 92% and 90% respectively. Functional roles in HR/Administration (-78%), Sales/Business Development (-69%), Accounts/Finance (-68%) and Marketing/Advertising (-61%) also witnessed a steep decline. However, new jobs for professionals in the Pharma/Biotech/Healthcare (-28%) and IT-Software (-53%) sector were less impacted as compared to other sectors in May’20.

Hiring Trends - Experience

Hiring across experience levels was also impacted in May 2020. The hiring for entry-level executives (0-3 yrs. exp.) and senior-level executives (4-7 yrs. exp.) saw a dip of 66% and 62% respectively. The hiring activity for middle management (8-12 yrs. exp.) roles declined by 55%, senior management roles (13-16 yrs. exp.) declined by 50% and leadership roles (16+ yrs. exp.) declined by 48%.

Hiring Trends - City

Recruitment across cities saw a double-digit dip during the month of May’ 20. Some of the hiring trends observed across key cities are as follows -

Kolkata: The city saw a dip of 68% in recruitment activity. The Auto/Ancillary (-98%) and Hospitality (-94%) sectors contributed to the downfall in industry hiring. All experience bands recorded a negative growth. The demand for professionals in the Hospitality and Accounting sector saw a decline of 96% and 84% respectively. 

Delhi/NCR: Hiring activity in the capital city witnessed a decline of 67%.  The Hospitality and Accounting industries saw a dip in hiring by 94% and 81% respectively. Recruitment activities across all experience levels saw a negative double-digit growth. The demand for professionals in Hospitality (-94%), Accounting (-74%) and IT-Hardware (-73%) sectors marked a substantial negative growth. 

Mumbai: Recruitment in Mumbai decreased by 67% in May 2020. Hiring in the Hospitality and Auto sectors saw a dip of 93% and 80% respectively.  The recruitment activity across experience levels saw a dip of an average 64%. The demand for professionals in roles across the Hospitality and Banking sectors decreased by 97% and 61% respectively.

Chennai: Recruitment activities in Chennai dropped by 63%. The demand for professionals in the Hospitality, Accounting, and BPO/ITES industry saw a decline of 93%, 62%, and 61% respectively. Hiring across all experience bands saw a double-digit decline with hiring for the entry-level executives (0-3 yrs exp) seeing the sharpest decline of 70% in May’ 2020. The hiring activity in the Hospitality industry (-95%) was most affected.

Hyderabad: Hiring in Hyderabad decreased by 63%. Hiring activities were most affected in the Hospitality industry (-95%) and least affected in IT-Hardware (-29%). Hiring across experience levels saw a dip of an average 53%. The demand for professionals was most impacted in the Hospitality and Accounting sector with a decline of 94% and 70% respectively. 

Pune: The city saw a dip in recruitment activity by 63%. The demand for professionals in Hospitality (-91%), BPO/ITES (-68%) and Accounting (-66%) sectors contributed to the downfall in industry hiring. The Hospitality and Auto industries recorded a decline of (-90%) and (-77%) respectively. Amongst experience bands, Pune saw a negative growth across experience levels of an average 50%.

Bangalore: Overall hiring activity in Bangalore witnessed a drop of 58%. There was a dip in hiring across all experience levels. However, leadership hiring with +16 yrs experience was least impacted (-37%). Hiring in the Hospitality and Accounting sectors saw a decline of 94% and 78% respectively. The demand for professionals in the Hospitality, Accounting and IT-Hardware sectors saw a decline of 93%, 59%, and 57% respectively in May 2020.