Hiring intent bleak across seven industry sectors
REPORT CARD Corporate hiring plans that had slumped have begun to pick up albeit at a weak pace
NEWDELHI: Corporate hiring plans that had slumped have begun to pick up albeit at a weak pace, the results of a survey showed.
Overall hiring outlook for the October 2017-March 2018 period is up two percentage points to 91% from 89% in April-september, the Teamlease Employment Outlook Report 2017-18 showed. The last outlook — for the April-september period — had shown a sharp six percentage point drop from the previous October 2016March 2017 period.
“The modest pace at which the hiring sentiment is growing seems to indicate a steadier and stable recovery rather than a temporary spike,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder and executive vice-president, Teamlease Services.
However, the positivity is largely concentrated in metro and Tier-1 cities, while tier-2 and tier-3 regions reported a significant drop in sentiment when compared to the April-september period, showed the bi-annual report on the mechanics of hiring, job growth, salaries and their drivers.
Net employment outlook is the difference between the number of respondents inclined to hire and the number of respondents disinclined to hire, over the next six months expressed in percentage.
Information technology firms don’t see any change in the volume of hiring from the previous half year. However, seven industry sectors have reported a negative hiring outlook with sharp drops in percentage points - construction and real estate (7%), agriculture and agrochemicals (4%), travel and hospitality (4%), BPO / ITES (3%), manufacturing, engineering and infrastructure (2%), fast moving consumer goods and durables (1%), and educational services (1%).
“Manufacturing makes a smart recovery, (-2, up from -5 during the previous half year)...the pall of gloom projected in public discourse seems to be based more on hearsay than on hard facts,” the survey said.
The hiring outlook registered a three and two percentage point rise in financial services and knowledge process outsourcing sectors respectively, followed by one percentage points each in health and pharmaceuticals, e-commerce and technology startups, power and energy, and media and entertainment.
“Large businesses continue to lead hiring sentiment, although marginally. The rate at which sentiment continues to decline among small businesses is concerning,” the report said.
Companies surveyed have expressed heightened intent for senior management level hiring. Entry and junior level hiring has registered a considerable drop of three percentage points in October-march 2018 period. Hiring activities for marketing and human resources roles will see a sharp drop.
“Most of the profiles that the companies are adding are not just to address the short-term requirement but to build capabilities, indicating the good tidings are here to stay,” said Chakraborty.
The study covers 16 key industries across 8 cities. Companies in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Ahmedabad plan to hire candidates. Those in Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune reported decrease in hiring intent.