The Monster Employment Index is up by 16% year over year in March, marking 6th consecutive month of positive growth.

“The Index has continued to be strong recording double digit year-over-year growth at 16%, as economic recovery progresses at a steady pace,” said Sanjay Modi, Managing Director (India/Middle East/ South East Asia), Monster.com. “Private sector hiring, particularly in IT and Retail has been fueling growth, which is encouraging”.

The key highlights of March 2011 were; annual growth at 16% while index rises 2 points (2%) month over month. Oil/gas/petroleum, power sector tops the annual growth chart, while production and manufacturing declines on an annual basis; Job availability rebounds for Hospitality and travel personnel, Customer service continues to ease on an annual basis and Mumbai trends strongest among major metro-areas.

18 of the 27 industries monitored by the Index showed positive annual growth trends. IT - Hardware, Software was amongst the top-moving sectors in March with 35% increase annually. The current Index reading of 130 is a record high for the sector, hitting upon the aggressive hiring plans of employers in the sector.
The BPO/ITES industry registered a marginal 1% monthly growth, while maintaining robust annual gain of 29%.
Banking/Financial Services/Insurance exhibited positive annual gain (7%) as the Index crossed the baseline for the first time since July 2010 suggesting improved demand conditions in the sector as economic activity expands.
Production and Manufacturing registered an annual decline of 4% as the employers in the sector chart less expansionary online hiring trends in the first months of 2011 than they did during the same months of 2010.
Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations registered the steepest annual decline of 24% in March despite a three point rise on the month.

The index showed that online demand for workers edged upward for the year in 10 of the 13 occupational categories in March.
Engineering/Production (up 29%) and Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (up 36%) recorded one of the strongest year-over-year growth in demand following robust annual growth in the Engineering, Automotive and Commerce sectors.
Customer Service (down 4%) charted the most dramatic annual downswing among occupations, slowing from 14% growth in February to a 4% decline in March.
Arts/Creative (down 2%) saw online demand return closer to parity on the year after registering an annual drop of 24% in February.