With Covid cases going down and the lockdown curbs being eased in phases, hiring for white collar jobs has grown 35 per cent to 6.5 lakh during Q1 (April-June) of this fiscal compared with the same period last year.

Dampened by a sharp and steep second wave of the pandemic and resultant lockdowns, hiring action plummeted as the new fiscal began with a massive 31 per cent drop in hiring compared to the 18 per cent drop witnessed in the March-April period in 2020.

Active jobs went on to recover marginally in May 2021 and bounced back fully in June 2021. However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, Q1 of this fiscal ended 17 per cent lower than Q4 (Jan-March) of FY 2021, as per the India Active Jobs Outlook data from specialist staffing firm, Xpheno.

“The receding second wave combined with a progressive vaccination regime, saw a quick recovery of hiring action in May 2021. While first half of May seemed all doom and gloom, the second half reversed the trend and was a prelude to a positive June 2021. The recovery in May continued into June and boosted hiring action to a massive 32 per cent increase over May 2021. With over 2,70,000 active white collar jobs, June has emerged the strongest month for the current financial year,” Kamal Karanth, co-founder Xpheno, told BusinessLine.

10X rise in remote jobs

Driven by the pandemic, the volume of active remote jobs in Q1 this fiscal ended nearly 10X higher than the same period last year at 40,000 active full-time remote jobs being put out, as against a little over 4,000 recorded last fiscal.

Quarterly full-time job openings grew by 37 per cent YoY, while entry level internships shrunk by 25 per cent. Mid to senior roles registered a massive 144 per cent increase over the same quarter last year; entry level roles grew by 33 per cent, mid to junior roles grew by 24 per cent and senior roles ended nearly stagnant on a YoY basis.

TCS to hire 40,000 freshers this fiscal, adding to its 5 lakh headcount

Sector-wise recovery

The IT Services sector showed the strongest recovery curve in Q1 this year and ended at 82 per cent higher in active job volumes than the same quarter last year. The BFSI sector ended as the second top growth sector in active jobs on a YoY basis with nearly 40 per cent movement over the same quarter last year.

“We have seen a 20 per cent rise in tech hiring in Q1 of this fiscal vs the previous quarter and a 50 per cent jump in hiring in Q1 over the same period last year,” said Anshuman Das, CEO and co-founder, CareerNet.

“Since hiring has gone virtual vs in-person interviews before an offer is released, it has opened up a huge opportunity for talent looking out for new roles, who now engage with a dozen potential employers simultaneously and end up with multiple offers thereby making employers compete for talent” said Murthy BS, CEO of Leadershipcapital Consulting.

Why recruitment needs to change its stripes

Demand for C-suite roles spike

Most sectors are seeing an upward surge around hiring for key leadership roles and ‘Digital’ continues to be one of the most coveted roles.

“Unlike Q1 of 2020, this time businesses had figured that the show must go on, therefore leadership hiring increased by 30-40 per cent over the previous year. The whole ‘Tech’ space is seeing a large number of leadership hires especially in consumer tech, fintech and edutech spaces and this trend will continue because the pandemic has changed the way businesses function. The second Covid wave also saw a large number of expats going back to safer pastures and these C Suite roles are being filled in by Indian leaders,” said Jyoti Bowen Nath, Managing Partner, Claricent Partners.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW