Hiring up in IT, FMCG sectors in Jan: Monster.Com

Ushering in the New Year on a positive note, hiring activities saw an improvement in sectors like IT and FMCG in January, says a report.

Leading job portal Monster.Com's monthly Employment Index witnessed annual growth of about 6% in January, indicating better recruitment conditions.

"Given the current global economic conditions, it is not surprising to see continued single-digit annual growth in the Index," Monster.Com Managing Director (India/Middle East/South East Asia) Sanjay Modi said in a statement.

"However, employers have started the year on a relatively positive note with continued recruitment within large sectors like IT, FMCG and import/export," he noted.

The Employment Index— which reflects monthly online job demand— rose to 120 in January this year from 113 in the year-ago period.

On a month-on-month basis too, hiring activities witnessed  improvement as the index stood at 115 in December, 2011.

According to Monster.Com, NGO/Social Services saw the highest annual recruitment growth of 31% last month.

IT, consumer goods/FMCG also recorded strong annual growth, while the BPO/ITES industry led all industry sectors in terms of monthly growth, it said.

However, recruitment activities were sluggish in some sectors.

"Government/PSU/defence exhibited the steepest annual decline, dropping 21% on a year-over-year basis," the statement said.

In terms of cities, Kochi and Coimbatore saw good annual growth in hiring of 22% and 21%, respectively.

"Among major metro areas, Bangalore (up 18%) is the only city to register double-digit annual growth. Mumbai and Chennai remain amidst lowest growth markets in the index, both edging down 3% on an annual basis," Monster.Com said.