Hiring activity in Chennai up 22 per cent: Report

Chennai has reported a 22 per cent jump in hiring during August this year, led by telecom and BPO hiring, stated a report tracking job placements.

According to the Naukri Job Speak Index, August reading this year was up 22 per cent at 1338, as against 1097 in Aug last year. Industry-wise, hiring sentiment was positive with sectors like telecom and BPO seeing an increase of 36 per cent and 26 per cent respectively in August.

V Suresh, chief sales officer of Naukri.com said, "Job market in Chennai has picked up considerable momentum over the past few quarters given the slow and steady revival of the auto sector and positive trends in the IT/ITeS sectors. With festive season round-the-corner, we can expect hiring to pick-up in the coming months".

Also, IT and banking sectors witnessed growth with the index moving up 24 per cent and 26 per cent in August 2014 over August last year. Pharma sector has also experienced growth with the index gaining 13 per cent in the same period.

Other sectors like insurance and construction saw a single-digit growth with the index going up 8 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.

Demand for professionals working in BPO saw the maximum growth with the index gaining 29 per cent in August this year.

Professionals employed in IT and HR sector also saw a spike of 24 per cent and 27 per cent Areas like supply chain and engineering design too saw an increase of 22 per cent and 20 per cent.

Professionals employed in banking & insurance and production maintenance clocked gains of 19 per cent and 13 per cent respectively in August this year, when compared with August last year.