White-collar hiring rises 14% in August, freshers also gain: report
A fresh report says white-collar hiring in India rose 14% year-on-year in August, with fresher hiring also picking up.
August brought relief for India's professional job market. Companies across sectors stepped up hiring, and the picture looked positive for freshers looking for jobs too. According to a fresh report, white-collar hiring in the country rose 14 percent in August compared to August last year. Sectors such as auto, healthcare and retail saw a strong pickup in hiring during this period.
The Naukri JobSpeak Index reached 3,028 in August, up from 2,664 in August last year. However, the August index was down 6 percent compared to July's 3,227. The report also said the August figures need to be read keeping in mind the shifting timing of festivals. Last year, several festivals fell in August, while this year their effect will be seen more in September.
Job opportunities for freshers also increased. In August, it was not just demand for experienced professionals that rose; hiring of candidates starting their careers also went up. Hiring of candidates with up to 3 years of experience rose 15 percent year-on-year. In the insurance sector alone, fresher hiring rose 37 percent.
Hiring of professionals with 4 to 7 years of experience rose 10 percent. Hiring of candidates with 8 to 12 years of experience rose 16 percent, and hiring of professionals with 13 to 16 years of experience rose 18 percent. Demand for candidates with more than 16 years of experience also rose 13 percent.
Sector-wise, hiring in auto and auto ancillary rose 19 percent. Healthcare rose 16 percent and retail rose 15 percent. Insurance rose 12 percent and IT rose 11 percent. Banking and FMCG sectors each saw hiring rise 10 percent.
BPO-ITES, oil and gas, and real estate each recorded an 8 percent rise. Hiring in pharma and biotech remained largely stable. Some sectors bucked the trend. Hiring in hospitality and travel fell 4 percent, while education, teaching and training saw an 8 percent decline. Hiring in media and dot-com entertainment also fell 14 percent.
Demand for technology-related jobs also held up during August. Hiring for AI and machine learning roles rose 31 percent year-on-year. IT and software engineering saw an overall rise of 11 percent. Within the IT sector, AI-machine learning roles rose 12 percent and IT and information security roles rose 32 percent.
By job function, hiring in healthcare and life sciences rose 34 percent, media production and entertainment rose 33 percent, engineering hardware and networks rose 30 percent, and BFSI, investment and trading rose 29 percent. Hiring in GCCs (global capability centres) was also up 10 percent.
Among cities, Hyderabad led with a 23 percent rise, followed by Kolkata at 22 percent, Chennai at 20 percent, Bengaluru and Pune at 14 percent each, Delhi NCR at 10 percent and Mumbai at 7 percent. Among emerging cities, hiring in Bhubaneswar rose 32 percent and Raipur rose 23 percent. Surat and Ranchi also recorded strong growth in hiring figures.
