Indian companies report optimistic hiring outlook for Apr-Jun qtr: Survey

Employers in India continue to report bullish hiring outlook for the April-June quarter, with 38 per cent of companies planning to add more staff in the next three months, a survey said on Tuesday.

According to the 60th annual edition of the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey of 3,090 employers, hiring sentiments across sectors and regions are much stronger compared to the same period last year.

However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, hiring decision-makers anticipate the net employment outlook to decrease by 11 percentage points from the January-March quarter.

For the April-June quarter, 55 per cent of employers are forecasting an increase in payrolls, 17 per cent anticipating a decrease and 36 per cent expecting no change, the resulting net employment outlook is 38 per cent.

The net employment outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location in the next quarter.

"As the country is heading out of the pandemic, we are witnessing new challenges of global geopolitical instability and rising inflation. Having said that, India will continue to thrive ahead as the main source of IT and tech resources," said Sandeep Gulati, Group Managing Director ManpowerGroup.

"India is also a haven for unicorns and soonicorns and has the third-largest ecosystem for startups in the world. With the central government allocating Rs 283.5 crores for the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) in the 2022-23 Budget, I am bullish about the growth in the employment opportunities for the employable youth," he added.

However, representation of women in the workforce continues to be a concern, Gulati noted.

As per the survey, IT and technology roles will continue to dominate the market with the strongest outlook (51 per cent), followed by Restaurants and Hotels (38 per cent) and Education, Health, Social Work and Government (37 per cent).

Moreover, large organisations with more than 250 employees are planning a net employment outlook of 45 per cent. Medium organisations, with a staff count of 50-249, are planning a net employment outlook of 35 per cent.

In all seven Asia Pacific countries and territories, employers expect to grow payrolls during the next three months.

The strongest hiring prospects are reported in India, followed by Australia and China, while the weakest regional labour market is expected in Japan, with Taiwan and Hong Kong close behind, the survey noted.