Entry, junior level hiring dips as employers want productive workforce

Employers are hiring only when there are projects as employment sentiment lags business sentiment

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India Inc’s focus has shifted to hiring a productive workforce which hits the ground running immediately, resulting in a drop in entry and junior level hiring, says a report by TeamLease Services. 

 

"Employers are hiring reactively (just-in-time) when there are projects as employment sentiment lags business sentiment. This leaves little scope for training and orientation. As a result, entry and junior level hires have come down," TeamLease said. 

 

Furthermore, hiring from tier-II and tier-III locations have slowed down for the coming half year, across sectors and cities. 

 

Engineers, who continue to be the toast of the talent market, are the only profiles that are being hired – albeit, in small numbers – from a few locations. 

 

Allahabad, Bareilly, Ludhiana, Ranchi and Warangal are examples of the cities and towns employers are selectively hiring good engineering talent at relatively lower cost when compared to tier-1 cities.

 

The report adds that businesses that are especially sensitive to the political-economic fallout of the impending elections are the ones who have gone more slow on hiring. However, a sizeable segment of HR managers is keenly acquiring and nurturing talent. 

 

They have sensed an opportunity to hire genuine talent not solely looking at lucrative job hopping but looking to secure better workplace environs to hone their capabilities. The inclination to hire authentic skills is evident in select geographies characterized by aggressive political regimes – such as Karnataka and Gujarat. Business sentiment is also found to be upbeat in these states.

 

From a sectoral perspective, Infrastructure (+8 points), Retail (+6 points) and Healthcare/Pharma (+4 points) drive the business outlook, significantly, this coming half-year. However, Manufacturing/Engineering has pressed the panic button with a substantial drop of four and five points in the employment and business sentiments. Meanwhile, IT suffers a substantial six point dip in employment outlook and a two-point marginal reduction in the business outlook.

 

A look at the city-sector trend shows that Healthcare/Pharma, Infrastructure and Retail/FMCG – in this order – are the industries driving sentiment for Bangalore. IT is slightly (not substantial) positive in Bangalore while it tanks in most other cities. In Ahmedabad, Healthcare / Pharma and Infrastructure are driving growth while for Mumbai it is Retail/FMCG and Telecom to some extent. 

City Highlights

 

	MUMBAI		KOLKATA		NEW DELHI		CHENNAI
TRENDS	HY 1	HY 2	HY 1	HY 2	HY 1	HY 2	HY 1	HY 2
Employment Outlook	70	70	58	55	66	68	65	62
Business Outlook	71	75	68	66	56	55	82	78
Attrition Rate %	6.41	9.13	9.29	12.04	11.64	15.19	9.41	13.82

	PUNE		BANGALORE		HYDERABAD		AHMEDABAD
TRENDS	HY 1	HY 2	HY 1	HY 2	HY 1	HY 2	HY 1	HY 2
Employment Outlook	71	67	77	82	59	62	72	78
Business Outlook	80	75	78	82	72	74	73	80
Attrition Rate %	9.54	12.93	8.62	16.11	10.66	16.22	7.42	8.35

*HY 1 – Previous Half Year (Apr – Sep, 2013)

*HY 2 – Current Half Yearly (Oct 2013 – Mar 2014)