India Inc, which began the year on a buoyant hiring mode, seems to be in a sluggish mood today.

The number of jobs created in 2011 in the organised sector is expected to fall short of initial expectations, under the effects of the economic slowdown and increasing inflation.

According to the latest findings of the Ma Foi Randstand Employment Trends Survey, at the start of the year India Inc had expected to create 16 lakh jobs in 2011. The first six months of the year has seen 7.04 lakh jobs. Around 3.46 lakh jobs were created in Q3 (July-August-September). With companies looking to add only 3.26 lakh jobs in Q4, there is going to be a shortfall of around 2.3 lakh jobs.

“At the start of the year, companies were bullish about hiring. But economic uncertainty has led to a deceleration from Q3 numbers to Q4 projections and hence, a gap in overall hiring numbers,” says Mr E Balaji, MD and CEO, Ma Foi Randstand.

The survey was conducted among 676 companies, panning 8 cities, across 13 industry segments, including IT/ITES, BFSI, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, real estate, energy and pharma.

The healthcare sector leads job generation with 1.75 lakh jobs in the first nine months (60,400 jobs in Q3). “Hospital chains are not only hiring doctors and specialists; lot of hiring is happening in support functions such as administration and accounts,” says Mr Balaji.

Among cities, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai lead the pack in hiring numbers.

While most sectors expect hiring to slow down in Q4, pharma and energy are expected to add slightly more jobs than initially projected.

“Overall, 2011 will be an average year – neither a block-buster year like 2005 nor a gloomy one like 2009,” says Mr Balaji.

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