Seven sectors bullish on hiring post lockdown

Hiring sentiment, which took a serious beating, on account of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak is slowly improving post lockdown. Some sectors are showing green shoots of recovery.

Information Technology

IT majors like TCS and HCL are looking forward to hiring people across ranks, from top level senior executives to entry level employees. The sector, which had been growing strongly in terms of hiring since last year, remains one of the least impacted sectors when it comes to the current global crisis.
IT major TCS is planning to hire as many as 40,000 freshers through campus placements while HCL Technologies is planning to hire 15,000 freshers in this financial year on the back of robust demand environment and a strong pipeline even though coronavirus has hit tech companies hard.
This is around 6,000 more campus hirings than last year's count of 9,000. Like most other tech companies, HCL has also gone virtual with its hiring and onboarding process.

Health and Pharmaceuticals

The pharma sector, which has been at the forefront of fighting the global pandemic, has been least impacted in hiring activity. The sector saw a substantial improvement of 27 per cent in creating jobs in June as compared to May. "The city of Hyderabad, a hub for medication supplies to the country, along with Kolkata were the two cities that saw the least decline in hiring activity for the sector," as per a Naukri.com report.

E-commerce and tech startups

E-commerce companies and startups have also shown an uptick in hiring with technology and supply chain experts much in demand, as they look forward to upscale their businesses. The sector is expected to add more than 44,000 new jobs in the first half of this fiscal year, according to TeamLease Research. Companies like Oyo, Swiggy, Byju's, Extramarks and Zomato, are set to expand teams by at least 25% this year.

Educational services

The education sector has also witnessed a sharp rise in e-learning solutions as the demand for remote learning solutions across segments rises. Ed-tech startups witnessed 25 per cent uptick in e-learning. The education market is likely to expand by 5-6 per cent in FY20-21 driven mainly by growing enrollments in higher education.

Agriculture and Agro chemicals

Even as the nationwide lockdown was implemented across the nation, agriculture remained unaffected as farmers were allowed to harvest during the rabi season. Agriculture, being the backbone of the Indian economy, is most likely expected to bring economic revival post lockdown.  Funds worth Rs 1.1 lakh crore were given to agriculture co-operative societies, farmer producer organisations, and startups to boost farm-gate infrastructure.

Fast Moving Consumer Goods

FMCG majors in India have started hiring people in small towns and rural areas as the companies see rural demand more promising and outpacing urban demand. The mandates have been given to companies such as Randstad India and TeamLease.
According to the officials at these firms, players increasingly push into rural areas to capitalise on the uptick in the hinterlands.

Power and Energy

The investment of Rs 42,000 crore in 511 projects involving refinery, exploration and production, marketing infrastructure, pipeline, and city gas distribution will generate around 7 crore man-days of employment.