Hiring projections to be largely positive from Jul-Dec 2022; IT most preferred sector: Quess Corp

Hiring projections are likely to remain largely positive during the second half of 2022 (July to December) as sectors are steadily recovering from the impact of the coronavirus crisis and have ramped up hiring, according to business service provider Quess Corp. According to the Workforce Management President at Quess Corp, Lohit Bhatia, the sectors that are likely to see increased hiring include IT, digital and automobile, and retail.  

He added that construction and related sectors like infrastructure development, roads and highways and core sectors like cement, steel and other large industries and impact sectors for youth are also likely to see a rise in hirings.  

The sectors, according to Bhatia, which are likely to see a shortage in manpower, include retail, hospitality, travel, tourism, e-commerce and logistics. Bhatia attributes this to the incoming festive season as sectoral leaders continue to amplify their hiring process in anticipation of increased demand both from within and outside the industry. 

Bhatia further told Business Today, "FMCD traditionally does well during this period. With increased appraisals, bonuses and incentives that companies might offer in FY22-23, the spends during the new product launch period of Q2 and Q3 with festivals will also see higher uptick. With the return of market confidence, segments are said to benefit from greater hikes and incentives provided by private sector employers and the seventh pay commission, which is expected to be timed by the government during the same period." 

These projections are in line with Monster.com's Sekhar Garisa. While Garisa subscribed to the likely spurt in hirings across IT, retail and fintech sectors, he also acknowledged that attrition levels are likely to reduce a bit but new roles shall continue to be in demand.   

Garisa further said, "While we did witness some obstacles in the form of the ongoing talent crunch, skill gaps, and the Great Resignation, Indian market seems to have bounced back stronger with most sectors exhibiting a greater appetite for hiring and this trend is likely to continue into the latter part of the year."  

TeamLease Digital's AVP for Engineering and RPO Solutions, Munira Loliwala also pitches in and explains the hiring scenario in non-IT sectors. Loliwala says, "As technology will continue to scale on hiring, non-IT sectors such as engineering and healthcare will also see a hiring growth at 48 per cent as compared to last year. Followed by e-commerce and logistics, EV and engineering has scaled hiring in Q1, this momentum will continue into Q2 as well. Hiring for product development teams take a front seat across sectors." 

She added, "The overall hiring in EV this year as compared to last 2 years will witness 30 per cent hiring growth. New emerging sectors such as drones and gaming have upscaled their hiring numbers for Q2 and Q3 and are evolving as one of the important industries for job seekers." 

Meanwhile, gig workforce hiring may witness growth on account of positive hiring decisions by organisations as this seems to be the fag end of the pandemic. And, according to Loliwala, during FY22-23, hiring of gig workforce shall witness a 17 per cent growth.  

"Hiring decisions are positive, organisations are looking at filling/addressing the queued-up demand of last year, as we seem to have reached the fag end of the pandemic. While they are cautious on the numbers overall, they are becoming more open and are exploring newer engagement models which in turn is creating more opportunities for staffing, contracting and gig workforce. They are also engaging in variability and project/task-based employment. We shall witness a 17 per cent growth in the hiring of gig workforce in FY22-23," Loliwala said, 

HackerEarth CTO Vishwastam Shukla, however, has an opposing view. He believes that the current inflation will be very hard for companies that are wary of burning cash when venture capital (VC) funds can be hard to access.  

"The current inflation would be hard for companies wary of burning cash in an environment where VC funds might be hard to access, so it's predictable that they would try to cut down their cost of hiring and saving funds. Though tech might end up being more robust than others when it comes to hiring, I think hiring for the rest of the year would be more toned down," Shukla said. 

Monster.com's Garisa also seems to agree to this point and he points out that rising inflation combined with plateaued workforce participation rate impacts hiring across sectors. He attributes higher demand in the job market as a root cause of rising inflation.

"Higher demand in the job market is one of the root [causes] for rising inflation. The unprecedented level of job change in the last couple of years has leveraged workforce with better compensation but acted as a push factor to inflation. While inflation may not have a tremendous impact on recruiting in a singular sense, there are other factors affecting the ability to recruit top talent in today's market. Rising inflation combined with the plateaued workforce participation rate as well as the slower than expected deadline in unemployment can really impact hiring," he said.

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