Demand for talent rose 7% on-year in Feb due to Budget 2022, says report  

Demand for talent surged 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in February as a result of the positive impact of the announcements of the Budget 2022-23 on the economy, as per the Monster Employment Index dated March 10. It also noted that hiring activity went up significantly over the past 6 months with a 2 per cent incline while February saw a monthly rise of 3 per cent in hiring activity from January.  

Budget 2022-23 provisions led to a 9 per cent hiring recovery in sectors like shipping/marine and production/manufacturing in February this year. Budget provisions that contributed to the recovery of these sectors were announcement of Maritime Vision 2030 and focus on employment generation and expansion through PLI scheme and PM GatiShakti Master Plan.  

“The economy has stabilised and it is also heartening to see the revival of industries such as shipping and manufacturing which have received a much-needed boost with the announcement of the Union Budget 2022-23. The cities too have witnessed an upward trend in the demand for jobs and with the gradual opening of the economy, this is likely to continue,” Monster.com CEO Sekhar Garisa said.  

As the economy opens up, industries like automation (103 per cent) continue to grow year-on-year, followed by banking/financial services (BFSI) at 27 per cent and printing/packaging at 23 per cent.  

Shipping/marine and telecom saw a 19 per cent growth in hirings on-year due to the Union Budget 2021-22 provisions. IT (hardware/software) and BPO sectors posted an annual growth of 18 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.  

Other industries that showed optimistic hiring trends are BPO/ITES (11 per cent), automotive (8 percent), chemicals/plastic/rubber (7 per cent), paints (7 percent), and fertiliser/pesticides (7 percent) in February this year. Healthcare, biotechnology and life sciences, pharmaceuticals and retail exhibit optimistic growth trends with 9 per cent and 8 per cent annual growth respectively.  

BPO/ITES reported 11 per cent growth in hiring given the increased adoption of digitisation across industries. BPO industry contributes ~one-tenth of the national GDP, thus, making the sector an important component of the Indian economy.  

Industries like real estate, FMCG, food and packaged food and healthcare are also coming back on track after being ravaged due to the coronavirus pandemic. All these industries reported a 4 per cent rise in hiring as compared to the previous months.  

Travel and hospitality roles have also registered a 10 per cent rise in hirings on-month with the relaxation of travel restrictions across the country. While travel and tourism has shown an encouraging trend on-month, it has been slow to recover on an annual basis at -5 per cent due to the shutdowns and travel restrictions and shutdowns due to Omicron.  

This is followed by sales and business development (7 per cent), finance and accounts (6 per cent), HR and admin (6 per cent) and customer service (3 per cent). BFSI and IT- hardware and software have also seen a steady incline month on month by 2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.  

Annually, there has been a sequential decline in hiring demand across media and entertainment, FMCG, food and packaged food, travel and tourism and education.  

On the monthly basis, sectors like logistics, engineering, cement, construction; iron/steel and agro-based firms reported a decline in job postings. Other sectors impacted are media and entertainment, NGOs and social services and retail.  

Delhi reported the highest number of hirings on-month as per this index at 13 per cent. It was followed closely by Mumbai (8 per cent), Ahmedabad (7 per cent), Chennai (7 per cent), Hyderabad (6 per cent), Coimbatore (6 per cent) and Jaipur (6 per cent).  

Cities like Kolkata and Baroda saw revival of hiring across all cities with 5 per cent increase in hiring demand.  

On an annual basis, Coimbatore accounted for highest growth at 21 per cent, followed by Bengaluru (20 per cent), Chennai (17 per cent), Mumbai (16 per cent), Pune (15 per cent), Hyderabad (14 per cent) and Kolkata (12 per cent).  

Demand for talent remained low in Chandigarh (-12 per cent), Jaipur (-5 per cent), Baroda (-4 per cent) and Ahmedabad (-3 per cent) in February 2022 vs February 2021.  

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