Perhaps this is not what we wanted to hear. There were fewer jobs on offer in October, showing poor appetite among companies as they enter third quarter. Though it is not uncommon for hiring activity to go slow in October, the trend this year is unusual, Naukri, online recruitment facilitation firm, claims.
There was a decline of 16 per cent in recruitment in October compared to September hirings, it argues.
Its competitor Monster, however, differs with this view and claims that hiring is up by 12 per cent and that salaries are up by 10-14 per cent.
“All key industry sectors and functional areas have witnessed dips in their hiring activity. This can be attributed to the festive season as well as the uncertainty in the global economic outlook,” said Mr Hitesh Oberoi, Chief Executive officer and Managing Director of Info Edge, which owns Naukari.
He admits that hiring in October is generally low. But this year hiring activity has been exceptionally low in October as most employers seem to be adopting a more cautious approach, he argues.
Telecom sector, however, bucked the trend with 19 per cent increase in hiring. Barring ITES (IT-enabled services) sector which saw a dip of 3 per cent, all other sectors witnessed two-digit dips. While auto sector registered a fall of 26 per cent, IT, pharma, oil and gas, and banking witnessed dips in the range of 13-19 per cent in hiring.
“When we compare the indices on a year on year basis, ITES, Construction and Oil and Gas sectors saw a negative movement,” he comments.
All the top cities, barring Bangalore and Kolkata, saw indices down sharply.
Different view
Mr Sanjay Modi, Managing Director of Monster (India and the Gulf), says the country needs 7.3 crore more people in factories in the next five years. “Campus recruitments are on to take care of next year needs. Companies have told us that they are not holding (recruitment plans). There is no slowdown in attrition too,” he said.
“We pick trends after factoring in overall hiring trends and not just based on our platform.”