Global economic crunch, inflation to slowdown hiring trends

Concerns of a global economic crunch and rising inflationary pressures are acting as a caution sign for India Inc, which has suddenly turned cautious in its hiring plans. According to various recruitment firms, hiring trends are set to see a slowdown in the coming quarters.

"Despite the aggressive hiring plans posted by majority of India Inc, the global uncertain economic conditions and high inflationary pressure has started gripping India Inc, which has suddenly turned cautious in hiring," Ajith Kumar B., director of global human resources (HR), UST Global, said. "It is not that companies will not hire but the mood is cautious," Kumar added. However, hiring firms claim that the slowdown is sector specific and some sectors, such as telecom, information technology (IT) and auto, are becoming more wary.

PERSPECTIVE: US debt row adds to global uncertainty

According to E. Balaji, managing director of Ma Foi Randstad, a global hiring firm, certain sectors, such as telecom, facing a lot of revenue pressure will go slow on hiring. However, Balaji added that this trend is temporary as people are in a wait-andwatch mode. The overall sentiment for hiring is still upbeat for India Inc, he pointed out. "The mood is not as optimistic as it was six months back. Not that the companies have stopped hiring but they are certainly not going overboard," a senior HR manager with Tata Motors told Mail Today.

"The memory of the slowdown is still fresh in the minds of people and companies are becoming cautious. No one wants to hire and fire," the official added. Moreover, companies say the trend will be more visible during the coming months. "The global crisis is still not completely over. There are many troubled zones and companies are apt to go slow on hiring.

Despite huge attrition rates, IT companies are hiring very judiciously. The sign will be more visible in the coming quarters," another an HR manager at Birlasoft.

"If you see the mood, there is concern over the slowdown in growth rate, high interest rates and wage inflation that is already hurting the profit margins of companies. So, companies have to be more judicious in hiring," he added.

SPECIAL: Best companies to work for in 2011  

A survey conducted by Naukri.com of more than 950 recruiters revealed an optimistic hiring scenario in the second half of 2011. About 78 per cent recruiters predict addition of new jobs and two per cent anticipate layoffs. However, the survey says that the trend will depend largely on the growth and business confidence level.

Info Edge chief financial officer (CF) Ambarish Raghuvanshi said, "Job seekers can look forward to a favourable hiring environment. However, the trend, as always, will be indexed to growth and business confidence levels."

Most of surveys have shown that India Inc's business confidence has slipped dramatically in the last few months amidst anxieties over inflation, the Euro crisis and the US debt crisis.

Courtesy: Mail Today