The month of November has seen some improvement in hiring momentum, with founder Insight Tracker showing a 1% year-on-year decline in the index, versus 6% year-on-year decline registered in the month of October.

The tracker, which was earlier Monster Employment Index, attributes the improvement to the uptick witnessed in hiring momentum in key employment industries such as real estate, retail and banking and finance.

“A revival in the IT and media industries was also observed — after months of decline — indicating a positive sentiment in hiring. Tier 2 cities continue exhibiting a positive hiring outlook as well,” it said in a statement.

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The improvement in IT hiring has only been marginal on a month-on-month basis at 3%.

However, on an annual basis, the sluggishness continues with the hiring activity registering a 14% year-on-year decline. Last year, companies were aggressively hiring tech talent with wage hikes, bonus and incentives amidst high attrition, the report said.

However, after a sharp decline, real estate hiring activity bounced back with the highest growth rate across industries. The real estate industry is on a hiring spree with a 10% incline in hiring activity both month-on-month and year-on-year amidst robust housing demand and significant launches by the top developers of the country.

Other sectors that showed positive hiring momentum include chemical, with a 5% year-on-year increase and BFSI, with a sharp rise of 13% year-on-year.

Also, with companies scaling up their marketing and media activities to meet organisational goals, the sector saw a 1% year-on-year increase in hiring for the month of November.

However, in terms of salaries to the freshers, IT sector remains best positioned.

According to data for jobs posted on the foundit portal, the IT sector offers the highest onboarding salary to freshers amongst the 14 key industries monitored.

The range starts from Rs 3.44 lakh annually, going up to Rs 6.71 lakh.

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This is followed by the logistics sector from Rs 3.11 lakh to Rs 5.76 lakh and the BFSI industry, starting from Rs 3.06 lakh to Rs 5.43 lakh.

“Hiring in key industries such as real estate, retail, tech and BFSI have been on an upward trajectory despite a slow-growing economy and high inflation.

“Despite a slowdown in hiring for tech talent for the past few months, several industries, such as education and healthcare, are increasingly relying on technology to drive efficiency and productivity, indicating skilled talent will always be in demand. “The boom in the Indian real estate sector is also indicative of the spending power of Indians who are willing to invest for a better future. Overall, the outlook for the Indian job market is positive and will only continue to do better in the coming months,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO – foundit (previously Monster APAC & ME), a Quess company.