India Inc.’s Hiring Slows By 7% Amid Macroeconomic Challenge

According to the most recent data from top talent platform Foundit, hiring activity in India decreased by 7% in May compared to last year as businesses in most sectors remained cautious about growing their payrolls due to the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and global headwinds.

According to the Insights Tracker (fIT) from Foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME), a Quess company, hiring activity decreased 4% month over month (MoM) across all industries.

The industries that have been hit the hardest include banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), automotive/ancillaries/tires, engineering/construction/production/manufacturing, technology services, and outsourcing.

The decline in hiring is the result of a number of factors, including the ongoing technological disruption that is forcing job changes and a slowing economy that has forced businesses to cut costs.

“The current hiring trend reflects the challenges faced by India’s job market,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO of Foundit. “Despite these difficulties, there are areas of growth that present job opportunities. Resilience is demonstrated by an increase in hiring in Tier 2 cities and particular sectors like shipping/marine, advertising, retail, and travel and tourism, the economist said.

Additionally, he stressed the importance of job seekers’ ability to adapt to the changing nature of the labour market. The importance of ongoing education and learning new skills is emphasised by the possibility that the skills that are in demand today may no longer be relevant in the future.

Amidst challenges to the global economy, such as rising inflation, interest rates, and supply chain disruptions, the BFSI sector saw a 10% YoY decline. The automotive, ancillary, and tyre sector has also experienced a downturn, with an 11% decrease. The production/manufacturing and engineering/construction sectors have experienced declines of 14% and 16%, respectively. The FMCG, food, and packaged food industries have remained stable and have not changed significantly. The BPO/ITES industry showed a 17% YoY decline.

Nine of the 27 industries the tracker looked at had higher e-recruitment activity than the year before. Increased port capacity, the use of cutting-edge technology, and environmental sustainability initiatives all contributed to the shipping and marine sector’s YoY growth rate of 45%. Both the retail and travel & tourism sectors have experienced steady growth, increasing by 27% each.