The seventh edition of the Workforce Confidence Index shows a modest increase in India’s overall workforce confidence, which reflects in this fortnight’s composite score of +50 (up from +48 in June 1-14). This growing confidence comes at a time when the economy continues to reboot, thus sparking hiring prospects across varied industries such as ecommerce, IT services, insurance and gaming. In fact, the economic repercussions of the pandemic have also urged businesses to innovate their offerings to lead through change, thereby stimulating job creation across sectors. Backing this up, Arvind Mediratta, MD & CEO of Metro Cash & Carry India says, “There is going to be a lot of demand for new products and services which, maybe, we’re not even able to envisage right now.”
Active job seekers confident about career progression as economy reboots
The lifting of the lockdown in several states and the continued adversities caused by COVID-19 have instituted a new set of workforce demands, thus creating new economic opportunities across the country’s industrial landscape. This uptick in hiring has fuelled the confidence of active job seekers towards career progression as findings show that about 2 in 3 professionals will increase their time spent searching for (66%) and applying to (64%) jobs in the next 2 weeks. Findings also highlight the active job seekers’ clear intent to upskill today for a safer tomorrow as 68% say they will increase their time spent on online learning to harbor long-term job security and career progression.
Decision makers more confident about job security than junior workers
To understand how this optimism towards job security differs across seniority levels, the LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index also captured responses from professionals with varied work experience levels. Findings state that decision makers appear to be more confident about their job security when compared to their junior workers. Only 1 in 4 senior professionals said they would increase their time spent on searching for jobs in comparison to almost half (45%) of the junior workforce. Further reinforcing the confidence of senior executives towards job security, findings showed that only 16% of Director+ professionals (decision makers) would increase the number of jobs they apply to, when compared to 48% of the junior workforce.
Commenting on this growing optimism, HR expert Prabir Jha explains why India’s rising hope towards job security comes with slight trepidation - “It must be understood that retaining a job in the present times is in itself a strong confidence booster. Many people are also willing to take up to 50% cut in their salaries for an assured job. This means that whoever retains a job today, clearly knows that his/her role matters to the organization even in the new reality.”
He also added, “More experienced workers may have savings to support them in the long run,” to explain why senior professionals are not as inclined towards increasing their time spent on searching for jobs.
Job-seekers can signal that they are #OpenToWork, with LinkedIn’s new feature
To help job seekers land a job in an uncertain environment, LinkedIn is providing free tools and resources for effective job search and placement. One such profile feature that was recently launched is #OpenToWork, which helps job seekers maximize their visibility on the LinkedIn platform. The feature, which frames the profile picture on LinkedIn, helps members signal to recruiters that they are immediately available to take up in-market opportunities. The feature also helps them specify the types of jobs they are interested in, and what their preferred start date and location is. So far, more than 30 million job seekers have used the #OpenToWork tool to find their next job on the platform.
Here are a few member stories that show how this tool is assisting them to connect with the right opportunities during such testing times -
● Shilpisweta asked for advice, or opportunities from her network as she embarked on finding a new role in a LinkedIn post.
● Yash moved back to India and decided to post on LinkedIn to find opportunities in the Social Media Management and Branded Content Strategy fields.
● Vijay lost his job due to the COVID-19 situation and asked his LinkedIn network to refer him to new opportunities in a LinkedIn post.
● Gopinath thanked his previous employer- Uber for the learnings in a LinkedIn post and asked his connections for leads to another exciting job opportunity.
Other free tools that help job seekers prepare for interviews and gain the right guidance include ‘Interview Prep’ and ‘Offer Help’. While ‘Offer Help’ makes it easier for our members to share that they are willing and able to extend a helping hand to their connections who are actively looking for opportunities, ‘Interview Prep’ offers free tools, including a new Microsoft-AI powered feature, to help members demonstrate their skills through effective interviewing and real-time feedback.
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