Job market. Overall hiring touches pre-pandemic level: report

Hiring activity in India is at a pre-pandemic baseline, i.e., February 2020 level, for the first time in months, according to data from job platform Indeed.

Indeed analysed job postings and clicks on its platform. As per the report, job growth continues to accelerate, and more workers are finding jobs or starting to pick up their job search.

Job postings on Indeed were up 2.8 per cent on August 1, 2021, compared to February 1, 2020.

Sectors tied to the reopening of the labour market are leading the way with IT, Sanitation and Retail fueling demand.

Job postings for IT tech software roles recorded a 19 per cent increase between July 2020 and July 2021 as an expected outcome of the pandemic-induced digitisation. Postings for other IT job roles such as project head and engineer also saw an increase of 8-16 per cent.

"The easing of lockdown restrictions and the consequent reopening of spaces sharpened the focus on hygiene and sanitization," the report further added.

As per Indeed’s data, the demand for housekeepers, caretakers, housekeeping managers, custodians, executive housekeepers, and cleaners had grown by 60 per cent between July 2020 and July 2021. The number of job roles in the food and retail sectors, too, witnessed an increase (52 per cent and 39 per cent respectively) in the same period, while the demand for roles in HR and finance grew by 27 per cent each.

Jobseeker’s priorities

Jobseekers are increasingly prioritising physical and mental well-being. This is reflected in an 89 per cent increase in clicks for applying for therapy jobs on Indeed between July 2020 and July 2021.

The number of clicks for veterinary jobs saw a massive 216 per cent increase during the same period, followed by jobs in personal care (155 per cent), childcare (115 per cent) and dental (108 per cent). Clicks for sanitation jobs, too, grew by 54 per cent, consistent with an increase in job postings by employers for such roles.

There was a decline in job seekers’ interest for roles in industries or functions like aviation (-25 per cent), media (-19 per cent), accounting (-8 per cent), customer relations (-7 per cent), and admin (-6 per cent), as was evident from the difference in the number of clicks on Indeed between July 2020 and July 2021.

Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India, said, “The reopening of the economy and the efforts by businesses to work around the challenges presented by Covid-19 have pushed the Indian job market towards recovery."

"While the relevance of tech jobs continues to be high, the renewed demand for retail and food jobs indicates that the consumption economy will play an important role in driving job growth further. Meanwhile, hygiene clearly has become a top priority for both employers and job seekers. What’s curious is the heightened interest for veterinary, therapy, personal care, and childcare jobs – a trend that seemingly indicates a significant shift in the priorities of job seekers. Recovery at this pace or even faster would be excellent," added Kumar.

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