India Inc. witnessed a growth of 9% in e-recruitment activity in September, according to the Monster Employment Index.

Data from the Index indicates that hiring demand has increased by 8% the last six months, even with the impact of the second wave of the pandemic. Compared to August, September saw a stable monthly growth of 1% in job posting activity this year. Moreover, job postings improved by 9% year-on-year (Sept 2021 vs Sept 2020), indicating an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year.

In September 2021, Printing/Packaging (11%) grew at a considerable pace, while a positive M-o-M uptick was also witnessed in industries such as BPO/ITES (5%), Import/Export (4%), Retail (2%) and Travel & Tourism (2%). Cities such as Baroda (3%) and Ahmedabad (1%) noted the highest job posting activity in the country (Sept 2021 vs Aug 2021).
 

Hiring activity in metropolitan cities such as Bangalore (38%), Pune (22%), Hyderabad (20%), and Chennai (18%) indicates a strong rise in recruitment activity as compared to the previous year (Sept 2021 vs Sept 2020). The demand for professionals in Software, Hardware, Telecom, Finance and Accounts, HR & Admin roles show a yearly uptrend across almost all cities tracked by MEI, as of September 2021.
 

On a positive note, the Printing/Packaging (11%) industry led with the highest month-on-month growth in September 2021 on account of rising online sales, followed by NGO/Social Services (5%), Office Equipment/Automation (5%), BPO/ITES (5%) and Import/Export (4%). Industries such as Banking/Financial Services, Insurance, Retail, and Travel and Tourism also saw positive uptick at 2% each (Sept 2021 vs Aug 2021). However, Garments/ Textiles/ Leather, Gems & Jewellery (-17%) which saw significant improvement last month due to peak festive hiring, witnessed a decline along with Production and Manufacturing (-9%), Telecom/ISP (-3%), and Oil/Gas/Petroleum, Power (-3%), which also saw decline in job postings in September 2021.

A year-on-year (Sept 2021 vs Sept 2020) comparison shows that the Banking/ Financial Services, Insurance (31%) industry outshone all others with the highest growth, owing to increased focus on digital innovation, neobanks, AI, and cybersecurity trends. IT-Hardware, Software (30%), Telecom/ISP (26%), Shipping/Marine (25%), and Home Appliances (20%) followed with consecutive increase in hiring activity in September 2021. It is also notable that Retail (7%) has been faring well since May 2021, with the sector slowly but surely recovering from the effects of the pandemic. On the other hand, sectors such as Education (-19%), Travel and Tourism (-19%), and Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/ Steel (-18%) have noted a continual dip in hiring activity annually (Sept 2021 vs Sept 2020).

In September 2021, location-wise data indicates that cities Baroda (3%), Ahmedabad (1%), and Delhi-NCR (1%) witnessed a positive uptick in job posting activity (Sept 2021 vs Aug 2021). Notably, hiring in most metro cities such as Kolkata (-4%), Chennai (-4%), Bangalore (-3%), Pune (-2%), Hyderabad (-2%), and Mumbai (-1%) showed a monthly decline, in contrast to their performance over the last few months. This trend could be on the rationale of back-to-office trends and remote working preferences of the workforce.
 

Nevertheless, metro cities continue to lead with significant hiring activity year-on-year (Sept 2021 vs Sept 2020) with Bangalore (38%), Pune (22%), Hyderabad (20%), Chennai (18%), Delhi (6%), and Mumbai (4%) showing a promising uptick. Prominently, the Import/Export industry witnessed more than 50% year-on-year growth in Hyderabad and Chennai. Some cities that continue to face challenges in job posting activity include Kolkata (-29%), Jaipur (-24%), Baroda (-12%), Chandigarh (-9%), Ahmedabad (-6%), Coimbatore (-6%), and Kochi (-3%).
 

Software, Hardware, Telecom, Finance and Accounts, HR & Admin roles mark positive yearly growth across Tier-1 cities

Online demand for professionals in Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (7%) led with the highest monthly growth, given the persistent rise of e-commerce in India, while roles in Arts/Creative (6%), Senior Management (5%), HR & Admin (4%), and Finance & Accounts (1%) also witnessed an uptick in job postings month-on-month (Sept 2021 vs Aug 2021). However, occupations such as Legal (-4%), Sales & Business Development (-4%), Software, Hardware, Telecom (-3%), Hospitality & Travel (-2%), and Health Care (-1%) saw a fall in job posting activities in September 2021.
 

Hiring for professionals in Software, Hardware, Telecom (35%), Senior Management (23%), HR & Admin (11%), and Finance & Accounts (7%) continued to flourish on a year-on-year basis (Sept 2021 vs Sept 2020). Interestingly, HR & Admin roles have seen a marked positive incline across all metropolitan cities, while Software, Hardware, Telecom, and Finance and Accounts also witnessed significant growth across almost all cities tracked by the Index. Functional areas such as Customer Service (-40%), Healthcare (-24%), Sales & Business Development (-15%), Hospitality & Travel (-6%), Legal (-6%) and Marketing & Communications (-2%) noticed a yearly dip in online hiring activity.

Recruitment activity across all job levels observed optimistic or neutral month-on-month (Sept 2021 vs Aug 2021) growth. Hiring for Top management professionals (over 16 years) witnessed an increase of 4%, while Senior level roles grew at 2%. Hiring for Mid-Senior level (7-10 years), Intermediate level (4-6 years), and Entry-level roles (0-3 years) showed muted (0%) monthly incline.
 

Hiring demand for Top Management roles continued to grow significantly, as high as 65% year-on-year in September 2021. Mid-Senior level (26%), Senior level (18%), and Intermediate level (20%) also witnessed encouraging growth. However, job roles for entry-level profiles have declined by 2% compared to the same time period last year (Sept 2021 vs Sept 2020).  
 
Sekhar Garisa, CEO - Monster.com, a Quess company said, “As we approach the end of the quarter, it is promising to see that we have witnessed 6% growth in hiring activity over the last three months. With imminent festive sales and significant increase in e-commerce activities, it is notable that job roles for Logistics and Supply Chain are well in demand. Moreover, with emerging back-to-office trends and increased vaccination efforts, we are bound to see a change in the Indian recruitment space for the better.”