Job hunting? 70% recruiters see new employment creation, says Naukri survey

Infra, IT and BFSI to lead job growth in the second half of calendar year 2018

The infrastructure, led by construction, information technology (IT), and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sectors are set to lead job creation in the second half of the calendar year 2018, according to the latest bi-annual survey, 'Hiring Outlook 2018', by Naukri.com.    

The survey has shown a 10 percentage point growth in outlook with 70 per cent of recruiters agreeing to new jobs being created in the next six months as compared to 60 per cent last year. Of these, while 31 per cent agree to new jobs being created, 39 per cent agree to replacement hiring as well for the second half of the calendar year 2018, between July and December. 

Reflecting positive hiring sentiment across industries, the survey indicates that robust hiring trends will emerge in the upcoming quarters of 2018.  Further, two-thirds of the respondents predict demand for people in the experience band of 1-8 years. With economic growth picking up and new jobs being created, the number of layoffs have reduced. 

This is because companies are now looking to fill the benches that were emptied during the November 2016 to March 2018 period, which saw economic upheavals, V Suresh, chief sales officer, Naukri.com, told Business Standard.  

"During this period, most of the companies had reduced their bench. Now that the phasing out of low performers is over, we will see investment on people who are good but need to be trained. Budgets are also going to go up," said Suresh.

What's more, the positive outlook is also going to intensify talent crunch in the next six months, with 50 per cent of recruiters agreeing to it. Further, layoffs are expected to be negligible in the coming six months as they have been indicated by only two per cent of recruiters. More than half of the recruiters predicted that hiring would take place among domains of sales, marketing, IT and operation. 

Amid the talent crunch, the top three skills where maximum hiring is expected to take place, according to the report, are statistical analysis & data mining, project management and experience in artificial intelligence & machine learning. 

Pay hikes across industries are likely to increase in the upcoming appraisal cycle, with 55 per cent of recruiters stating that the average increase in pay will be 10 per cent or higher. On the other hand, almost every four in 10 recruiters agreed that the top performers will get an increment between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, whereas 15 per cent of the recruiters confirmed that the rate of increment will be up to 20 per cent or higher. 

What could further highlight the positive hiring outlook in the coming months is the expected attrition rate. Two-thirds of the recruiters thought attrition will be highest for people with 1-8 years of experience. Sector-wise, while BPO and banking attrition was concentrated at 1-3 years of experience, the auto industry experienced the greatest attrition from people with 3-8 years of experience. 

According to the Naukri.com survey, most recruiters said that the top three reasons people changed jobs were better compensation, a better profile being offered and because of poor career growth. The main reasons highlighted by the job seekers were also the same, with a few adding relocation as another key reason. 

"To tackle the persistent issue of the rising attrition rate, recruiters have focused on increasing training and development and flexible working hours as the key activities, which, as per job seekers, is very important. Additionally, half the recruiters have also doled out the benefit of work from home, job rotation, salary correction and rewards, and recognition to keep levels of attrition low. Interestingly, more than two-thirds of the job seekers also concur with the same," the survey stated.