The Indian job market has witnessed sharp recovery in March, growing by 18.4% year-on-year as the economy returned to normalcy post-Covid third wave.

Even as the job market has seen recovery, the Travel and Hospitality sector, which was the worst affected due to Covid-induced lockdowns over the last two years, has witnessed a robust recovery with a 47.6% growth in payroll headcount in the month, according per payroll distribution data collated by Allsec Technologies, a Quess Corp company. The employment numbers are derived basis in-house data from AllSec Technologies, a comprehensive Business Process Services (BPS) provider who keenly track the employment trends across various sectors.

The overall movement from the previous year has been positive, with several industries showing profound progress in growing headcount. The Travel & Hospitality industry has reflected immense progress with the highest growth in payroll headcount at 47.6% this March as compared to last year. Considering the pandemic strain on this industry, it is encouraging to see this growth in contrast to the 48.7% decline last year (March 2021 vs March 2020). However, a comparison with pre-pandemic numbers indicate that the industry is not quite back to pre-pandemic levels having witnessed a 24.3% de-growth (March 2022 vs March 2020) but is certainly on the way to recovery. The Energy sector followed close behind with a 41.5% yearly increase in headcount this year (March 2022 vs March 2021) and has notably surpassed pre-pandemic levels with a 42% growth (March 2022 vs March 2020).

Following Travel/Hospitality and Logistics, the IT/ITes industry has performed considerably well with a 27% uptick in March 2022 accompanied by Logistics which saw a 27.3% growth. Industries such as Financials (16.6%) and Food & Beverage (12.9%) also showed an optimistic year-on-year trends. While most sectors have recovered from the pandemic, Healthcare (-8.3%) and Ecommerce (-1.5%) have witnessed a marginal drop (March 2022 vs March 2021). Wholesale/Retail Traders (-2.1%) have also seen a drop which can be attributed to lockdowns and restrictions that curbed businesses over the past year through the second and third waves of Covid-19.

As compared to pre-pandemic levels (March 2022 vs March 2020), triple digit growth was noted in the Logistics (178.3%) sector on account of Budget accommodations encouraging integrated logistics and multi-modal connectivity. Industries that witnessed considerable growth include Energy (42%) and E-Commerce (41.8%). The E-commerce and delivery industry has undoubtedly witnessed transformative growth in light of lockdowns and curbs on retail outlets over the several waves of the pandemic. IT/ITes (29.4%) and Food & Beverage (19%) also performed well. On the other hand, Constructions/Facility Management (-27.8%) saw the highest dip, followed by Travel/Hospitality (-24%), Wholesale/Retail Traders (-23.9%) and Healthcare (-9.4%).

Ashish Johri, CEO, Allsec Technologies (a Quess Company), said, "We have seen an optimistic recovery pattern across industries this month. It is heartening to see Travel & Hospitality lead the way, along with several other industries which were severely impacted by the pandemic. We are confident of seeing a positive trend in the months to come, keeping in mind the government's push for job creation across sectors as seen in the Budget and the economic revival of the country"