Overall hiring has touched pre-pandemic level: Indeed

The overall hiring activity in India has touched pre-pandemic level and going ahead consumption economy will play an important role in driving job growth further, according to a report by job site Indeed.

According to Indeed data, for the first time in months, hiring activity in India is at a pre-pandemic baseline (February 2020 level).

Job postings for IT tech software roles saw a 19 per cent increase between July 2020 and July 2021 as an expected outcome of the pandemic-induced digitisation.

Moreover, job posting for other IT job roles such as project head, engineer, also saw an increase of 8-16 per cent.

"The reopening of the economy and the efforts by businesses to work around the challenges presented by COVID-19 have pushed the Indian job market towards recovery," said Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India.

Kumar further said that while the relevance of tech jobs continues to be high, the renewed demand for retail and food jobs indicates that the consumption economy will play an important role in driving job growth further.

"Meanwhile, hygiene clearly has become a top priority for both employers and job seekers. What’s curious is the heightened interest for veterinary, therapy, personal care, and childcare jobs – a trend that seemingly indicates a significant shift in the priorities of job seekers. Recovery at this pace or even faster would be excellent."

The easing of lockdown restrictions and the consequent reopening of spaces sharpened the focus on hygiene and sanitization and the demand for housekeepers, caretakers, and cleaners had grown by 60 per cent between July 2020 and July 2021, the report said.

The number of job roles in food and retail sectors, too, witnessed an increase (52 per cent and 39 per cent respectively) in the same period, while the demand for roles in HR and finance grew by 27 per cent each.

However, there was a decline in job seekers'' interest for roles in industries or functions like aviation (-) 25 per cent, media (-) 19 per cent, accounting (-) 8 per cent, customer relations (-) 7 per cent, and admin (-) 6 per cent, as was evident from the difference in the number of clicks on Indeed between July 2020 and July 2021, as per the report.

The report further noted that "job growth continues to accelerate and more workers are finding jobs or starting to pick up their job search. Sectors tied to the reopening of the labour market are leading the way, giving some hope that these gains can continue in the months ahead."