Hiring activity improves sequentially in May, thanks to IT-Software sector: Report

New Delhi: Overall hiring activity has shown some improvement with a marginal 1 per cent month-on-month contraction recorded in May as against a decline of 14.95 per cent in April, according to a report.

The job postings during May stood at 2,047 compared to 2,072 in April on Naukri.Com platform, according to Naukri JobSpeak Index.

Hiring activity in April had declined by 14.95 per cent compared to March.

Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly Index that calculates and records hiring activity based on the job listings on Naukri.Com website.

As per the latest Naukri JobSpeak report, the IT-Software sector registered a 14 per cent growth in hiring in May compared to April.

“It is encouraging to see a much lesser impact of the second wave of the pandemic on the job economy versus last year. Even though the hiring activity declined by 15 per cent in April over March, we see hiring turning flat in May, signalling resilience and recovery," Naukri.Com Chief Business Officer Pawan Goyal said.

With the year 2021 seeing a strong wave of hyper-digitisation, the IT sector continues to drive hiring, recording robust sequential growth in May, he added.

According to the report, hiring activity in the education/teaching sector grew by 7 per cent sequentially in May after posting a continuous decline over the past few months.
The hiring in the sector is led by marquee EdTech startups on the Naukri.Com platform, it noted.

The shutdown of hotels, restaurants and non-essential offices led to a sequential decline in hiring in sectors such as hospitality (- 41 per cent) and retail (- 20 per cent) in May.

Sectors like banking/finance declined 15 per cent, FMCG (13 per cent) and BPO/ITES (10 per cent) in May compared to April, the report said.

Meanwhile, major IT Hubs like Pune with a 12 per cent growth, Bangalore (9 per cent) and Hyderabad (4 per cent), saw an uptick in hiring activity in May compared to the previous month, led by tech talent demand.

With Maharashtra successfully containing the pandemic, hiring activity grew by 5 per cent sequentially in Mumbai.

On the other hand, hiring in Delhi/NCR remained impacted and declined by 11 per cent in May.

As the pandemic continues to impact smaller cities in the second wave, tier-II cities remain subdued in hiring activity. Jaipur witnessed a dip of 19 per cent, Vadodara (9 per cent) and Coimbatore (5 per cent).