White-collar hiring activities rise 4% in December: Report

The report further stated that the momentum generated in the beginning of 2022 sustained into the second half of this year, barring a few key sectors.

However, a sector wise analysis comparing December 2022 to the first half of 2022 (January-June period) revealed a mixed trend.

The growth in domestic economy-driven sectors and non-metro cities has offset the slowdown seen in IT and BPO, resulting in sequential stability at aggregate level, it added.

Compared to December 2021, stable growth was seen across multiple sectors, but the mix shifted in the second half of 2022, with domestic-economy driven sectors recording stronger growths.

According to the report, in December 2022, numbers when compared to the first half of 2022 showed a robust 51 percent growth in hiring activity for the insurance sector.

Other sectors, which recorded an upward trend compared with the first half of 2022, include oil (33 percent), banking (24 percent), real estate (21 percent) and auto (12 percent).

However, IT and BPO sectors linked to global markets declined by 19 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in December from the first half of the year, with startup hiring impacted the most, it noted.

Meanwhile, amongst non-metros, Ahmedabad led the list with 39 percent growth, followed by Vadodara at 29 percent and Jaipur at 16 percent.

Among the top-tier metro cities, Delhi/NCR and Mumbai witnessed a 12 percent growth in hiring activity compared to the monthly average of the first half of the year.

Similar trend was observed for Kolkata as well, where new jobs created grew by 3 percent, the report revealed.

On the contrary, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, largely dependent on IT sector, showed a decline of 4 percent, 7 percent, 11 percent, and 15 percent, respectively, it said.

"The Indian job market exhibited favourable hiring activity in 2022, with a 20 per cent increase in new job creation compared to the full year base of 2021." However, we do witness a correction in key sectors like IT and BPO towards the latter half of the year currently being offset by hiring activity uptick in non-IT sectors like insurance, banking and real estate. This reaffirms the multi-sectoral and balanced footprint of the Indian white-collar job market.

"As we enter 2023, the positive trends observed in non-IT sectors and smaller cities keep us watchful yet optimistic with respect to 2023," Naukri.com Chief Business Officer Pawan Goyal added.