Job market continues to improve led by IT, agro-based industries: Report

The job market continues to improve sequentially across the country and job postings in some industries have improved, with some doing even better than the pre-Covid levels, led by IT, agro-based sectors, according to a report.

In comparison to January 2020, job postings in some industries have improved, according to Monster Employment Index, by Monster.com - a Quess Company.

Agro-based industries and media and entertainment have grown by 15 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, in January 2021 compared to the same time last year.

Telecom and ISP (internet service provider) job postings have become stable, indicating a 0 per cent change compared to January 2020. However, telecom roles have witnessed a 13 per cent increase in postings in the last three months, it added.

The Monster Employment Index report is based on analysis of job listing data during January 2021, against the same month of 2020.

Jobs in the IT industry - hardware, software - reflected significant demand this month with month-on-month growth of 6 per cent in job postings, seen mostly in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Further, a constant increase in job postings for the home appliances industry is noticed, with 9 per cent growth in postings in January 2021, compared to December 2020.

While the job postings for the home appliances industry are at 18 per cent decline year-on-year in January 2021, the same has improved compared to the previous index (December 2021 vs December 2020), which was down at 25 per cent, it noted.

As per the report, industries that have witnessed maximum growth in job postings compared to the previous month are home appliances (9 per cent), agro-based industries (7 per cent), IT - Hardware, Software (6 per cent), banking and financial services, insurance (6 per cent) and chemicals, plastic, rubber, paints, fertiliser and pesticides (5 per cent).

Industries such as advertising, market research, public relations (PR), production and manufacturing and engineering, cement, construction, iron and steel have also witnessed month-on-month growth of 4 per cent each.

The media and entertainment industry remains consistent when compared to the previous month with no changes, however, there is an indication of a 2 per cent year-on-year growth, it added.

Further, the report revealed that with the reopening of travel and reduced restrictions in vehicular movement, travel, and tourism and automotive, ancillaries and tyres have witnessed an increase of 2 per cent in job postings.

However, when it comes to year-on-year comparison travel and tourism industry has been the worst hit, down at 64 per cent, it stated.

Oil, gas, petroleum and power witnessed a decline of 40 per cent, and BPO/ITES 40 per cent have also witnessed a steep year-on-year decline in January 2021.

When it came to cities, job postings in Bangalore witnessed 3 per cent growth followed by Pune with 2 per cent and Hyderabad 1 per cent, while job postings in Chennai have remained the same in January 2021.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that functions of top management level professionals witnessed growth of 11 per cent year-on-year in job postings.

The functions such as legal (4 per cent), software, hardware, telecom (3 per cent) and senior management (2 per cent) and finance and accounts (2 per cent) witnessed the most month-on-month growth in job postings.

"While shifts in the job market have their ups and downs, with some sectors faring better than others, segments such as IT and telecom, alongside agro-based industries and media and entertainment, continue to do well. Travel and tourism still face their set of challenges.

"However, it has seen improvement from where it was during the onset of the pandemic. With the Covid vaccine rollout being initiated and the nation gears up to be workplace-ready, we can hope for improvements and new opportunities to open up in the coming months, Monster.com CEO Sekhar Garisa added.