India’s hiring rate improves: report

Indian companies have now increased hiring, but the economic uncertainties caused by the second wave of Covid-19 remain and women and fresh job-seekers are more vulnerable, says a LinkedIn survey.

The data released by the professional networking platform shows that the hiring rate has recovered from 10% in April to 35% in May. It had dropped from a high of 50% in March, as the second wave and localized lockdowns announced by various states took a heavy toll on hiring.

Despite an improvement in the situation, working women and young professionals continue to remain vulnerable to economic uncertainties. “Working women are four times less confident than men, while the average time taken for new graduates to find jobs has increased from two to three months,” according to LinkedIn.

The industries that are actively hiring on LinkedIn include finance, corporate services, manufacturing, healthcare, hardware and networking. As digital transformation is happening in a big way, the demand for information technology jobs continues to surge.

Application developers, engineers and SAP specialists are in great demand and the most sought-after skills include SQL and JavaScript.

The industries that witnessed a decline in hiring include consumer goods, media and communications, automotive, marketing and advertising and recruiting and staffing. India’s overall workforce confidence has declined after peaking in early March. They are now less confident about their professional future, the report added.

Remote work

The survey found that remote work is here to stay and it offers hope to fresh graduates and women professionals. There has been a nine-fold increase in entry-level remote jobs from last year. Nearly seven of 10 companies surveyed were keen on moving to a completely remote setup.

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran recently said that companies across the world will move to hybrid workplaces and never revert to the old model. Though many people will continue to work from home, offices will remain crucial – they will become a place for collaborative efforts and social engagements.

Burnout risk

On the flip side, the survey found that burnout among India’s workforce is on the rise. “As this dynamic hustle for upskilling, tech-proofing and recruiting continues, India’s workforce has slowly but surely arrived at the brink of collective burnout,” the report said.

There is a rising demand among job seekers for flexibility and factors such as office location, working hours and a work-life balance which play a crucial role while deciding on job offers.