India’s hiring activity broke all records and touched new heights as recorded by Naukri’s JobSpeak index in Feb’22. The Naukri index stood at 3074, surpassing its previous high of 2753, which clocked in Sep’21.
The re-opening of the Indian ecosystem has reinforced a positive sentiment among employers and jobseekers, as a result of which, the Naukri Index saw an uptick of +31% Y-O-Y in Feb’22 vs Feb’21.
Key sectors maintained strong momentum in hiring
As the Indian economy sees a gradual return to normalcy, sustained growth in the hiring activity was observed across all key sectors. Insurance (+74%) clocked the highest growth in hiring activity in Feb’22 when compared with Feb’21 followed by Retail (+64%) that has showcased a sharp uptick since last year. Interestingly, after a long sluggish period, the Auto Industry finally showed signs of recovery in Feb’22 as it grew by +12% over Feb last year.
Sectors like IT-Software/Software Services (+41%), Banking/Financial Services (+35%), Pharma (+34%), Hospitality (+41%) and Telecom (+23%) continued to demonstrate strong and consistent growth as concerns around COVID reduced drastically in Feb’22. Medical/Healthcare (+7%) and FMCG (+4%) sectors showed marginal growth in hiring activity when compared with the same period last year.
Metros continue to observe an upsurge in hiring as emerging cities show promise
Top metro cities saw a very healthy rise in demand as Kolkata (+56%) recorded the highest Y-O-Y hiring trend which was closely followed by Bengaluru (+49%), Mumbai (+45%), Chennai (+45%), Hyderabad (+43%), Pune (+41%) and Delhi (+30%).
In non-metro cities, Coimbatore (+57%) recorded the highest Y-O-Y growth beating its past trend followed by Ahmedabad (+32%) and Kochi (+16%). Interestingly, Jaipur (+15%) saw shoots of success, while Vadodara remained flat (-3%) in Feb’22 vs last year.
Demand for professionals across all experience bands grows by over 25%
The hiring trend across all the experience bands treaded on a positive Y-O-Y growth trajectory in Feb’22 vs Feb’21. When compared with last year, the demand for mid to senior experienced professionals belonging to the 13-16 years category witnessed the highest surge at +35%. The demand for professionals in 8-12 years (+31%), 0-3 years (+30%), 4-7 years (+30%) and above 16 years (+27%) bracket also stayed strong.
Commenting on the report, Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com said “Clocking 3074, Naukri JobSpeak Index has set a new benchmark for nation’s hiring activity indicating a favourable time for white collar job market. With sectors like Auto/Auto Ancillary showing recovery after a long time, and other major organized sectors sustaining growth, one can say that both sentiment and confidence are strong among the jobseekers. ”
