Formal job creation in India continued to soften in October, with job postings down nearly 20% year-on-year and 5.6% compared to September, according to a report by global job site Indeed released on Thursday. This marks the second consecutive month of decline, leaving overall postings nearly a fifth lower than the same period last year.
Sectoral Slowdown
The three-month trend showed nearly three-quarters of sectors posting declines, led by banking and finance (-25.6%), legal (-22.4%), retail (-16.7%) and loading and stocking (-15%).
“Every month, the Indian workforce is gradually moving toward more formal work arrangements. As this transition continues, job creation in the formal sector is expected to outpace overall employment growth,” said Callam Pickering, Indeed’s APAC Senior Economist.
New Dynamics
Despite the slowdown, certain segments saw growth. Job postings rose in cleaning and sanitation (+20%), community and social services (+17.4%), dental (+13.1%), nursing (+11.2%) and food preparation and service (+10.3%). Human resources postings also edged up 2.3%.
The report, based on real-time data from Indeed, noted a rising trend in remote work. In October, 9.1% of job postings explicitly mentioned “work from home” or “work remotely,” up 7.6 percentage points from last year. Remote opportunities were most common in IT infrastructure, operations and support (18.2%), followed by community and social services (15.1%) and industrial engineering (14%).
While remote jobs grew in IT infrastructure (+4.4 percentage points) and installation and maintenance (+3.4 points), declines were seen in veterinary (-2.5 points) and community and social services (-1.9 points).
“Changes in remote work arrangements reflect shifting employer attitudes and strategies to attract candidates,” Pickering added.