India Inc Poised For Change: Hiring Up 3%: RecruiteX Report

With political uncertainty coming to a conclusion, Hiring went up by 3 per cent during the month of March ‘14, according to the latest TimesJobs.com RecruiteX, indicating that India Inc is optimistic about the future.

With the Parliamentary Elections promising to quell the economic and political instability in India. Corporates showed signs of recovery and confidence as hiring recovered across key sectors, job hubs and functions. The Indian jobs market which was largely inactive during Jan-Feb ‘14 is getting back on track as RecruiteX demand index climbed up to 93 points in March from 90 points recorded in February ‘14.

Petrochemicals & Project/Infrastructure lead: The Project/Infrastructure sector emerged as the top employment generator in March ’14 with a 12 per cent rise in demand, the Petrochemicals industry reported a 9 per cent rise.

As anticipated by industry experts in the bi-annual RecruiteX report, Petrochemicals and Project/Infrastructure were the first two major industries to show signs of revival in a struggling economy. While both these industries started the year on a somber note, witnessing negative hiring sentiments during January ‘14, things started looking up from February. 

Other significant changes were:

·       IT/Telecom sector reported 6 per cent increase in hiring

·       Hiring up by 5 per cent in the Healthcare/ Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical and Manufacturing & Engineering industry

·       Construction/Cement/Metal/Steel/Iron industry registered a 9 per cent increase in hiring

Engineer(ing) its way to growth: There has been a huge demand for engineers in India Inc and experts predict that this will increase manifold in times ahead. This profile reported a 12 per cent rise in demand during March ‘14. It was the only top profession to witness a double-digit rise in demand during the month. The rise in demand for engineers is a result of revival of hiring in core sectors including Project/Infrastructure, Petrochemicals, Manufacturing and Real Estate. IT/telecom and logistics professionals also reported 8-9 per cent increase in demand.

·       Logistics/supply chain management/procurement professionals witnessed 9 per cent increase

·       Biotechnology/pharmaceutical/R&D/scientist (22%) and quality/process control professionals (13%) also reported increase in demand

·       Oil and gas professionals witnessed an increase of 11 per cent

India Inc rely on experience: Corporate India is pining huge hopes on its experienced workforce to sail through the tough times ahead. RecruiteX data shows that in March ‘14 demand for over 20 years of experience professionals increased by more than 30 per cent. The 10-20 years and over 20 years of experience category together accounted for 65 per cent of the total demand for candidates across experience categories.

·       Candidates with 5-10 years of experience witnessed 2 per cent rise in demand

·       Demand for candidates with 2-5 years of experience reported stable (0%) hiring

·       Freshers (less than 2 years experience) reported 6 per cent drop in demand

Hyderabad rules as metros battle political unrest

Hyderabad emerged as the top job hub during March ‘14. The city reported a 30 per cent rise in demand for talent during the month. Since Jan-Mar ‘14 the region has witnessed an average rise of 2 per cent in hiring. Among metros, Chennai witnessed 20 per cent increase in demand during the month.

·       Delhi NCR witnessed 6 per cent rise in demand for talent

·       Pune registered 3 per cent increase in hiring

·       Among states, Andhra Pradesh (except Hyderabad) witnessed maximum increase (20%) in demand.