Strong rebound in India's job market post pandemic, says Apna report

Beauty, wellness industry sees huge increase in openings in the March quarter; highest momentum in logistics, IT

The job market saw an uptrend in the March quarter (Q1), with job interviews increasing 13.71 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to over 30 million, according to Apna.co, India’s largest jobs and professional networking platform. It recorded a 42 per cent QoQ growth in its employer base.

As a result of the second wave of Covid-19 last year, sectors such as healthcare, delivery, and e-commerce were booming while others had fairly low employment. Fast forward to Q1 of 2022, and sectors like hospitality, beauty and wellness, manufacturing, real estate, and aviation logistics are back in action.

In fact, Apna recorded 80 per cent and 30 per cent increase in job openings in the beauty and wellness and hospitality sectors, respectively. According to Apna’s analysis, the IT and logistic sectors witnessed the highest hiring momentum. Real estate, hospitality, and beauty and wellness also saw a sharp recovery.

“The Indian economy was on an optimistic growth trajectory this last quarter and we are certain that this year, India will finally bounce back completely from the pandemic,” said Manas Singh, chief business officer, Apna.

In the last three months, with a massive 141 per cent growth in new users, Apna registered 4.8 million new professionals on its platform – 46 per cent of them preferred the vernacular interface over English to find opportunities.

March logged in the maximum activity from both employers and professionals.

North India had an inclination towards telecallers, computer operators, and security guard roles. In comparison, people in the South preferred roles like business development and logistics. Eastern Indian users applied for delivery and sales, while professionals from the West were on the lookout for opportunities in the back office, finance, drivers, and retail.

Apna’s report also records the changing interest in jobs. For example, user interest increased by 44 per cent for business development, 39 per cent for sales and fieldwork, and 22 per cent for delivery persons. It increased by 19 per cent for back-office roles, 16 per cent for computer operators, 14 per cent for engineering (across functions) while 11 per cent increase for human resources and cooks/chefs and bakers.

Roles such as ward helpers (60 per cent), refrigerator technicians (57 per cent), chemical engineers (35 per cent), welders (32 per cent), turner fitter (19.96), draftsmen (14 per cent) also witnessed an increase QoQ.

Even though 50 per cent of the interviews took place in the top metros including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, interviews in tier-II cities increased by 30 per cent QoQ.

Apna noted that graduates followed by users with educational qualification under 12th and 10th class gave maximum interviews in the quarter. The trend for WFH (work from home) remains significant. In Q1, Apna noted a 2 per cent increase in people applying for remote jobs. The demand for freshers has also increased this year.

Apna’s analysis highlights an increasing participation by women in the workforce. They gave more than 10 million interviews, a 20 per cent increase QoQ. Apart from traditional roles, women also applied for roles such as delivery person, security guards, drivers, chefs/bakers, IT support, civil engineers, fitness instructors etc.

Apna said there was a 96 per cent increase in app installs year-on-year. The firm recently partnered with Vodafone Idea. It expanded to 26 cities in the last quarter, and is now present in over 70 cities, with more than 22 million users and 200,000 employer partners.