The hiring outlook of Indian employers looks positive for the next three months with the net employment position at 21 per cent, according to a survey conducted by Manpower Group, a US-based human resource consulting firm.
Around 22 per cent of employers expected an increase in staffing levels, 1 per cent expected a decrease and 59 per cent expected no change, as per the survey conducted over 4,930 employers in India.
Considering the last four quarters of financial year 2016-2017, the hiring prospect is the weakest since the third quarter of 2013, weakening by 9 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 19 per cent year-on-year.
Employment levels are expected to increase across India. Employers in the south expect the most optimistic hiring intentions across India. However, the hiring prospect has decreased in all regions when compared to the last quarter.
Public administration and education are the most optimistic sectors with a net employment outlook of 26 per cent. The biggest drop noted is in the retail and services sector with 13 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.
Outlook for the manufacturing sector is expected to fall by 6 per cent. However, hiring prospects improve by 5 percentage points in both the mining and construction sector and the public administration and education sector. When compared to the first quarter of 2016, employers report weaker outlook in all seven industry sectors.
Sharp decline of 26 and 25 percentage points are reported in the transportation and utilities sector, and the finance, insurance and real estate sector, respectively, while the outlook for the wholesale and retail trade sector is 23 per cent weak.
Hiring in the information technology sector looks bleak and only 60 per cent of the employers are looking to hire employees in the next one or two quarters. It can be attributed to a number of factors such as Brexit, H1-B visa and automation. Tech giants are getting rid of employees and hiring has dropped down by almost 40 per cent compared to last year.
High and refined skill sets will be the major criteria for hiring in the future, considering the decreasing numbers each quarter.
BW Reporters
The author is a correspondent with BW Businessworld with keen interest in HR and employee welfare.
