Banking, financial sectors too lag in hiring.
By R. Chandrasekaran
CHENNAI: Even as the India-based IT companies have delivered better than expected June quarterly numbers, hiring in IT sector continues to witness downside in July, though the overall hiring in India improved 8 percent from the previous month.
According to the Naukri Job Speak Index, IT and ITES, banking and financial services witnessed 14 percent and 7 percent drop, respectively, in hiring over June 2013. However, the overall picture was different with the index rising 8 percent to 1,323 in July from 1,230 in the preceding month.
The hiring process in IT sector is not surprising considering the fact that the first quarter saw the top four companies recruiting 60 percent less number of professionals. The trade body, NASSCOM, chief also indicated that the campus hiring in the current year will be approximately 60 percent of what it was last year.
The IT sector has also changed its tactics of hiring and as the available talent increased, the companies are also resorting to hire as and when needed or just-in-time hiring. Significantly, the improved conditions in the U.S. spending towards IT failed to reflect in the hiring process among the IT or ITES companies in July.
The sector that recorded strong growth was pharmaceutical with a growth of 24 percent followed by the insurance segment with an uptick of 18 percent over the previous month. Telecom and construction sectors have also witnessed a growth of 11 percent and 4 percent, respectively, in hiring.
The survey also indicated that recruitment process recorded an uptrend in July in most of the regions, though Delhi and NCR failed to catch up with the rest of the regions.
Commenting on the hiring scenario, Hitesh Oberoi, Managing Director and CEO of Info Edge (India), which owns the brand Naukri.com, said, “It is good to see that hiring has recovered this month. Hiring in the past two months was little sluggish and the employers were in a cautious mode. However, a good number of jobs have been created this month.”
He also believes that on a year-on-year basis, hiring activities have been modestly positive during the last few months. However, it remains to be seen whether the coming months will also see an uptrend in hiring since the Reserve Bank of India has tightened the money policy thereby reducing the companies’ willingness to invest in the recruitment in an uncertain economic conditions. The survey also has not provided the details of the exit of people from various sectors, especially the automobile sector, which has reportedly been reducing its workforce.