Hiring is rising steadily with the Covid second wave waning, according to LinkedIn’s latest Labour Market update for June.
According to the report, India’s hiring rate was 42 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels, at June end. The increase is seen as pent-up hiring as most companies had turned cautious in 2020, in taking on people in the face of Covid uncertainties.
“There was a deep hiring dip in April, corresponding to the second wave. Since then, it has been recovering steadily — compared to the pre-Covid levels in 2019, it was 35 per cent higher at the end of May 2021, and 42 per cent higher at the end of June,” Pei Ying Chua, APAC Lead Economist at LinkedIn, said in a report.
Human resource consultants also agreed that hiring is on a high. “There is a recovery in the intent to hire across all sectors, as people are gradually recovering from the second wave and preparing for the future. A better-than-projected GDP growth, demand uptick, higher export valuation, and the relaxation of restrictions on economic activity are opening up job opportunities across India,” said Deval Singh, Business Head - Telecom, IT& ITes, Media and Government, TeamLease Services. Overall, the intent to hire in Q2 of calendar 2021 has increased 4 percentage points over Q1, according to TeamLease’s Employment Outlook Report for July-September 2021.
Information technology, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, educational services, e-commerce and technology start-ups are all on an upward trajectory. Volume hiring is back and this is driving entry/junior level hiring.
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Skilled GenZ in demand
According to Microsoft-backed LinkedIn, between January 2018 and June 2021, the share of GenZ entering the workforce has quadupled.
Compared to those with basic/applied digital skills, Gen Z with software/hardware or disruptive digital expertise are 1.3-1.5 times more likely to be hired.