Hiring activity declines 18 pc in March: Naukri JobSpeak

Hiring activity during March has declined by 18 per cent compared to the same month in 2019 following the nationwide lockdown to tackle the COVID-19 crisis, with major impact in cities like Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, according to Naukri JobSpeak Index.

The hiring activities showed early signs of slowdown from January where the index grew by only 5.75 per cent followed by no growth in February.

The index for March 2020 stood at 1,954, showing a decline of 18 per cent in hiring activity compared to March 2019 at 2,378.

The Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly Index which calculates and records hiring activity based on the job listings on Naukri.com website month-on-month.

The decline in hiring activity is led by industries like hotel, restaurants, travel, airlines (56 per cent), retail (50 per cent), auto and ancillary (38 per cent), pharmaceutical (26 per cent), insurance (11 per cent), accounting and finance (10 per cent), IT-software (9 per cent) and BFSI (9 per cent).

The job market across cities registered a drop in hiring activity, the index revealed, adding that the decline was led by metros wherein Delhi declined by 26 per cent followed by Chennai and Hyderabad at 24 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.

Hiring activity in Delhi and the National Capital Region witnessed a negative growth of 26 per cent, where the hospitality and pharmaceutical industry saw a plunge in hiring by 66 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.

Recruitment activity across all experience levels saw a negative growth where the demand for professionals in hospitality (63 per cent), banking (28 per cent), accounting (23 per cent) and IT-Hardware (22 per cent) sectors marked a substantial negative growth.

Hiring in Chennai dropped by 24 per cent and the demand for professionals in the hospitality, IT-software and banking industry saw a decline of 63 per cent, 27 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the IT-hardware sector saw a growth of 14 per cent in demand for professionals.

In Hyderabad, hiring decreased by 18 per cent, wherein hospitality (62 per cent), auto/ancillary (46 per cent) and BFSI (40 per cent) contributed to the overall decline in the Industry hiring.

Hiring across experience levels saw a dip of an average 24 per cent, where the demand for professionals in the hospitality and banking sector witnessed a decline of 59 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively.

There was an across the board decline in hiring activities at overall experience levels as well with senior experience bands (more than 13 years experience) witnessing the sharpest decline of 29 per cent, while the entry-level experience band (0 to 7 years) saw a decline of 16 per cent.

The pandemic crisis has impacted year-on-year growth in hiring activities leading to 18 per cent decline. The negative sentiment on hiring was visible in the Index starting January, mirroring the economic trends, said Naukri.com Chief Business Officer Pawan Goyal.

Hiring activity for the first 20 days of March saw only a 5 per cent decline. However, due to the nationwide lockdown, there was a substantial drop in recruitment activities in the last 10 days, which resulted in an overall drop of 18 per cent in hiring, he said, adding that industries like hotel, travel, aviation and retail have declined the most during March.