April white-collar hiring trend: Retail sector is on the lookout but overall reading poor

E-recruitment for white-collar jobs in April slipped, according to staffing from foundit’s monthly tracker. While hiring saw a six percent decline during the month on a year-on-year basis, it dropped four percent, indicating cautious hiring sentiments among Indian recruiters, foundit report said.

Retail, travel and tourism were among the top industries exhibiting positive yearly growth while banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors continued to be apprehensive, it said. On a monthly basis, BFSI, travel and tourism, and import/export picked up while sectors such as logistics, home appliances, and oil and gas saw a steep fall, it said.

Though many startups have been laying off, especially across Indian IT, in order to cut costs and turn profitable, the foundit report claims overall hiring demand among startups noted a strong 19 percent growth this April 2023 compared to the previous year.

Tracker states that India housed over 19,000 startups before the pandemic. This number has swarmed up to over 80,000 last year which created over 250,000 job opportunities. In fact, over the last three months, demand for talent among startups saw double-digit growth.

The report added that after the Great Resignation period, many Indian IT companies exhibited talent hoarding behaviour by over-hiring and offering high compensation packages. Due to this, the IT industry went through a notable correction period last year.

“However, it is important to note that the demand for tech talent across industries stood steady, considering the value that niche tech skills continue to hold in the market. IT holds the maximum share of total job demand in the startup space currently at 20 percent,” it said.

Sekhar Garisa, CEO - foundit said “Although hiring has declined, there are still a plethora of job opportunities in emerging industries for job seekers. Remarkably, the Indian startup ecosystem has taken a turn, exhibiting resilience in hiring intent despite the prevailing job market challenges.”

foundit expect cautious hiring sentiments to persist, though it remains optimistic about job opportunities for candidates, particularly as startups continue to propel the demand for talent and innovation, Garisa said.

The report highlights that the retail sector has grown by 22 percent year on year (YOY), which is encouraging for job seekers in emerging industries. E-commerce has contributed significantly to this growth, with India now home to some of the largest online retailers, it noted.

“Since November 2021, the sector has experienced double-digit growth, with notable increases in Omni channel retail and retail real estate. This expansion has increased demand for skilled professionals on the shop floor, providing ample opportunities for retail job seekers.”

On the downside, BFSI (-4 percent) and BPO/ITES (-13 percent) sectors continued to witness a YOY hiring dip as companies watch their spends on talent acquisition. Other sectors like healthcare, biotechnology and life science (-16 percent), media and entertainment (-17 percent), import/export (-19 percent), agro-based industries (-20 percent), and IT-hardware/software (-22 percent) have also witnessed a significant decline in their hiring patterns compared to the previous year.