Riding on improving business confidence, Corporate India's online hiring activity rose for the fifth month in a row, leading recruitment services provider Monster India said.
The Monster Employment Index, a monthly gauge based on a comprehensive review of employer job opportunities from a large selection of online job sites, climbed by 7 per cent to 125 in April, from 117 in March.
"The April rise in Monster Employment Index India is a positive sign as employers continue to expand hiring efforts at the beginning of the second quarter," Monster Worldwide managing director (India, Middle East and Southeast Asia) Sanjay Modi told reporters here.
With this, the online employment availability in healthcare, bio technology, life science and pharmaceuticals witnessed its largest monthly rise. Overall, job opportunities rose in 18 of the 27 industry sectors tracked in the survey.
Healthcare led the rise with a 29-point gain in April, indicating a relatively high level of online recruiting in support of scientific research and development activity.
The banking, finance and IT sectors also edged higher in April. Consumer-driven sectors, such as production and manufacturing, automotive, home appliances and real estate, witnessed strong growth over a three-month period.
In the IT industry, the online job demand increased by 51 per cent from January levels. Meanwhile, education was the only industry to grow month-over-month, over a six-month period.
"With other indicators, such as business confidence, improving and most industries and occupational categories in the index registering recent positive trends, we hope to see continued improvement in the future," Modi added.
Online job demand rose at all the 13 cities monitored by the index in April, with Kochi, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad registering the largest jumps.
Among major metropolitan areas, brisk hiring activity was witnessed in Mumbai.
Delhi-NCR and Bangalore grew by 5 per cent over March levels, though hiring activity in Bangalore was relatively restrained compared to the previous month, the study said.
During April, online recruitment activity rose in 13 of the 14 occupational groups tracked, with online job demand for healthcare and engineering/production professionals witnessing the greatest monthly increase.