The Monster Employment Index (MEI report revealed that in the month of January 2022, online hiring demand saw a 10% annual incline, indicating an encouraging outlook on jobs in India.
 

Interestingly, demand to hire witnessed a 1% decline month-on-month reflecting the cautious approach of Indian employers owing to 'Omicron' conditions in January 2022 as compared to the previous month. On account of the third Covid-19 wave, industries such as Retail (-8%), Travel & Tourism (-8%), and Home Appliances (-5%) witnessed a dip in demand, while Agro (5%) and BFSI (4%) sectors continued to grow on a monthly basis (Jan 2022 vs Dec 2021).
 

In January 2022, job demand in Office Equipment/Automation (106%) continued to soar highest among other industries. On a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, both metro and Tier-2 cities show impressive annual growth in mid to high teens, while functions such as Software, Hardware, Telecom (27%), Finance & Accounts (26%), and HR & Admin (22%) projected remarkable upticks in job posting activity. It is further notable that job demand across all experience levels witnessed encouraging sparks of hiring intent in the month.
 

Given the economic impact of the third wave, 9 out of 13 industries monitored by the Index saw a fall in the intent to hire (Jan 2022 vs Dec 2021)

Amidst the commencement of the third wave and subsequent restrictions, industries such as Retail (-8%) and Travel & Tourism (-8%) saw a month-on-month de-growth. These were followed by Home Appliances (-5%) FMCG, Food & Packaged Food (-5%), BPO/ITES (-3%), Production and Manufacturing (-2%), and Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/Steel (-2%) industries that showed a negative trend. Further, Education, Telecom/ISP, and Healthcare, Bio Tech & Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals have witnessed a slight fall with 1% decline in job postings (Jan 2022 vs Dec 2021).
 

On the other hand, Agro based Industries (5%), BFSI (4%), Automotive/ Ancillaries/ Tyres (3%), Government/ PSU/ Defence (3%), Oil/ Gas/ Petroleum, Power (2%), Logistics, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation (1%), and Shipping/ Marine (1%) witnessed positive uptick in demand for talent on a month-on-month basis. It is anticipated that optimistic growth trend in Agro based industries  will continue with the promotion of chemical-free natural farming, 'Kisan Drones', and accommodation for agri-tech announced in the Union Budget 2022.
 

On a year-on-year basis, highest job demand was witnessed in Office Equipment/Automation industry (106%) followed by the Printing/ Packaging (34%) and BFSI (34%) industries. Sectors that showed demand in double digits and high-teens include Telecom/ISP (26%) which registered a notable progress in January 2022, followed by IT- Hardware, Software (22%) and Logistic, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation (19%).
Other sectors that displayed sequential growth (Jan 2022 vs Jan 2021) include Automotive/ Ancillaries/ Tyres (14%), BPO/ITES (13%), Advertising, MR, PR (11%), Healthcare, Bio Technology & Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals (+9%), Agro based Industries (7%), Retail (4%) and Production and Manufacturing (4%). However, industries such as Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/ Steel (-19%) recorded a negative year-on-year growth followed by Media & Entertainment (-7%), Travel & Tourism (-6%) and Education (-5%).
Post pandemic, metro cities project highest annual growth in demand to hire

While a  majority of cities showed a slight uptick last month due to festive demand, in the month of January (Jan 2022 vs Dec 2021), cities such as Delhi (-8%) projected the steepest de-growth in job posting activity, followed by Chandigarh (-6%), Baroda (-5%), Hyderabad (-3%), Ahmedabad (-2%), Kolkata (-1%), Mumbai (-1%), Jaipur (-1%), and Chennai (-1%). Locations that indicated a positive trend are namely Kochi (1%) and Coimbatore (1%) with a marginal increase in job posting activity, followed by Pune and Bangalore which witnessed stabilized growth.
 

However, on year-on-year terms, metro cities continue to lead the way with Bangalore (25%), Chennai (19%), Pune (18%), Hyderabad (17%), Mumbai (17%), Kolkata (13%), and Delhi-NCR (3%) registering positive growth. It is notable that BFSI and IT - Hardware, Software industries fared considerably well across metros. Among tier-2 cities, Coimbatore (18%), Kochi (8%), and Ahmedabad (7%) saw significant improvement, while Chandigarh (-11%), Jaipur (-6%), and Baroda (-1%) witnessed the slowest growth in online hiring activity.
 

Job roles in Hospitality & Travel, customer service and business development witness de-growth on account of pandemic impact

Across functions, Finance & Accounts (1%) led with the highest intent to hire, attributed to the growing BFSI industry in India. Considering the Union Budget projections for the Indian banking and digital payments industry, we expect demand for such job roles to grow even further in the coming months. However, several functions exhibited a negative growth patterns such as Hospitality & Travel (-9%) impacted by de-growth of the Travel & Tourism industry as a consequence of third wave restrictions and weekend curfews. Senior Management (-8%), Customer Service (-5%), Arts/Creative (-4%), HR & Admin (-3%), Health Care (-3%), Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (-2%), Marketing & Communication (-1%), and Engineering/Production (-1%) roles also saw a sequential dip (Jan 2022 vs Dec 2021).
As compared to the previous year (Jan 2022 vs Jan 2021), functional areas such as Software, Hardware, Telecom (27%), Finance & Accounts (26%), and HR & Admin (22%) projected remarkable growth in demand. HR & Admin functions have witnessed consistent growth given the increasing need to retain talent amidst the Great Resignation. Senior Management (12%), Health Care (3%), and Marketing & Communications (1%) further showed optimistic incline in hiring activity. Interestingly, all major functions saw a significant growth in metros except Sales & Business Development which monitored a downward trend. Job roles which continue to observe a dip in hiring include Sales & Business Development (-15%), Hospitality & Travel (-9%), Customer Service (-9%), Arts/Creative (-6%), Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (-5%), Legal (-4%), and Engineering/Production (-1%). As several industries such as Travel, Retail, Sales, and Supply Chain are still in recovery from pandemic impact, job roles in these sectors continue to exhibit decelerated growth.
Top Management roles continue to dominate the hiring pie with 51% year-on-year uptick in job posting activity

With the exception of Mid-Senior roles (7-10 years) witnessing stabilized growth in the month of January 2022 as compared to December 2021, all other experience levels witnessed a fall in online hiring demand. Entry-level roles (0-3 years) witnessed a de-growth of 3%, while Senior level (11-15 years), Top Management (over 16 years), and Intermediate level (4-6 years) roles witnessed a dip of 2%, 2%, and 1% respectively (Jan 2022 vs Dec 2021).
 

On a year-on-year basis, the Index noted positive hiring activity across all experience levels in January 2022 (Jan 2022 vs Jan 2021). Top Management roles (over 16 years) dominated the pie with 51% growth, while Mid-Senior level (7-10 years) saw 36% yearly growth followed by Intermediate level (4-6 years) with a 29% uptick. Demand for jobs across Senior Management (11-15 years) and Entry-level (0-3 years) talent stood at 10% and 9%, indicating a positive outlook.
 

Sekhar Garisa, CEO - Monster.com, a Quess company said, "The third wave of the pandemic certainly took a toll on several recovering sectors such as Travel & Tourism and Retail in January 2022. However, it is important to consider that the Index has recorded a 10% yearly uptick, indicating that this is temporary dip in the demand for talent caused by the Omicron wave. However, we are optimistic for job creation given the Union Budget 2022 announcement, which has highlighted several measures for the growth and support of Indian enterprises across sectors. The push for digitization, increased skilling and education, and the growth in capital investments will undoubtedly lead to a boost in employment generation, if executed well."