Hiring activity sees 3% rise in March: Report

New Delhi: Hiring activity registered a 3 percent rise in March driven by significant growth in non-IT sectors like automobile, construction and engineering, says a report.

Naukri JobSpeak Index for March 2018 stood at 2,129 registering a 3 percent rise when compared to the year ago period.

"There seems to be an air of caution in the IT/ITES sectors and we can expect the market to sustain the momentum gained and move further north in the next few months," Naukri.Com Chief Sales Officer V Suresh said.

Hiring across auto and auto ancillary industry increased by 33 percent in March 2018 as compared to March 2017, followed by heavy machinery (23 percent). BPO and insurance industries grew by 11 percent and 6 percent, respectively, the report noted.

In terms of experience, hiring across senior level (with more than 16 years of experience) showed a robust growth of 8 percent, while the mid (4-7 years) and junior levels (0-3 years) grew by 3 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in March 2018 as against a year ago.

Metro cities lead in terms of recruitment activity as Mumbai saw 4 percent rise in hiring activity while Kolkata and Delhi/NCR witnessed a rise of 5 percent and 3 percent respectively. Other cities like ? Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad were flat in terms of hiring activity in March this year, the report added.

The index has been calculated based on job listings added to the site month-on-month. July 2008 has been taken as the base month with a score of 1,000 and the subsequent monthly index is compared with data for July 2008.