After witnessing an uptick in the past three months, the hiring activity in March saw a minor dip of 1.1 per cent owing to the ongoing appraisal season, according to leading job portal Naukri.com.

The Naukri Job Speak index — that indicates hiring activities online — employment levels for India Inc in March was down 1.1 per cent compared to February.

On a year-on-year basis, however, the index has shown an increase in hiring by 11.5 per cent.

The index had moved up by 3 per cent in December 2012, by 10 per cent in January and a further 4 per cent in February led by sectors like software services, BPO and pharma which have been witnessing positive hiring trends.

“We have noticed a small correction after three successive months of growth in the Naukri Job Speak Index of 3 per cent, 10 per cent and 4 per cent in December 2012, January 2013 and February 2013, respectively,” Info Edge India, which owns job portal Naukri.com, CFO Ambarish Raghuvanshi said.

Raghuvanshi further added that “while some of this can be attributed to seasonality, it is also a fact that business confidence levels which play a strong role in hiring intentions continue to be fragile. A sustainable positive trend will emerge once the economy and the environment are seen to be in a growth mode.”

Traditionally, March has always been a month where recruitment slows across sectors due to appraisal season.

An industry-wise analysis shows IT—software, auto and oil and gas witnessed dip in comparison to February. However, hiring in pharma, construction and BPO sectors have remained positive in March in comparison to the previous month.

Despite the downturn, positive hiring activity was seen for professionals in the IT enabled sector which has increased by 8 per cent in March, over February.

The hiring activity for professionals in functional areas like banking and insurance has shown a record dip of 13 per cent in March over February. Other key sectors like IT, accounts, marketing and HR have also witnessed lower hiring numbers in the range of 3 per cent to 7 per cent.

Among metros, Bengaluru and Pune maintained steady hiring levels, while Hyderabad witnessed 5 per cent upward movement in the index in March over February. Delhi and Mumbai saw a 5 per cent dip in hiring, whereas Chennai saw the maximum dip of 11 per cent among the top seven cities, after two months of consecutive upward movement.

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