White-collar hiring in India witnessed a significant 16% decline in December compared to the same period the previous year. Cautious hiring sentiments were prevalent across various sectors, including IT, BPO, education, retail, and healthcare, a report said on Tuesday. Here’s a sector-wise analysis:
IT Sector’s Ongoing Struggle:
According to the Naukri JobSpeak Index, the IT sector continued to face challenges, contributing to an overall index decline of 16%. The sector experienced a substantial 21% decrease in hiring compared to December 2022 and a 4% decline compared to November 2023. Despite the overall caution in the IT industry, certain roles, including full-stack data scientist, IT infrastructure engineer, and automation engineer, saw decent hiring activities.
Hospitality Sector’s Growth:
The hospitality sector continued its growth momentum, experiencing a 4% increase in hiring compared to December last year. The highest job growth in this sector was observed in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR.
Caution in Various Sectors:
Sectors such as BPO, education, retail, and healthcare displayed cautious hiring sentiments, with year-on-year declines of 17%, 11%, 11%, and 10%, respectively, in job offers during December.
Stability in Oil and Gas Sector:
While the oil and gas sector did not witness spectacular growth in new job offers in December 2023, it maintained levels comparable to the same month the previous year.
Pharma Sector’s Increment:
The pharma sector saw a 2% increase in hiring in December 2023 compared to the corresponding month in 2022, with maximum growth in new job offers in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Mumbai.
Non-metro Cities Outshine Metros:
The report highlighted that non-metro cities surpassed their metro counterparts in terms of hiring in December 2023. Vadodara, in particular, stood out with an annual growth of 3% in new job offers, outperforming metro cities such as Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Kolkata, which registered declines ranging from 16% to 24%.
This comprehensive analysis is based on the Naukri JobSpeak Index, reflecting the state of the Indian job market and hiring activity across various sectors.
(With PTI Inputs)