Most job vacancies recorded during third Covid wave were in health sector

Besides health, trade and IT/BPO sectors saw vacancies increasing during the pandemic's Omicron phase

The health sector saw the highest number of vacant positions reported in the fourth quarter of 2021-22, when India was battling the third wave of Covid-19 caused by the Omicron variant, shows a survey by the government’s labour bureau.

Vacancies in the sector rose 40 per cent in that quarter to 65,958 from 47,076 in the previous three months, showed the fourth round of quarterly employment survey released on Monday.

In contrast, overall job vacancies declined almost 19 per cent to 150,773 in the quarter from 185,343 in the previous three months.

As such, unoccupied posts in the health sector constituted 44 per cent of the total vacancies in the quarter ended March 30, 2022, against 25 per cent in the previous quarter.

Besides health, trade and IT/BPO sectors saw vacancies increasing. Trade saw a 77 per cent increase in vacancies and IT/BPO 30.5 per cent.

Manufacturing sector reported the maximum number of vacancies in October-December, 2021-22. Attrition was the main reason for vacancies in five out of nine industries. However, only three per cent of the establishments surveyed reported vacancies in the quarter ended March 2022, compared to the three months previously.

This issue of attrition was pertinent particularly in IT/BPO, accommodation and restaurants sectors. It was also the most important reason in manufacturing, transport and construction too.

Almost 95 per cent of total vacancies in the IT/BPO sector was due to resignations during the January-March quarter. The total vacancies stood at 1,319 in the sector, accounting for less than one per cent of the total.

This was followed by the accommodation and restaurants sectors as 82.47 per cent of vacancies were due to resignations. The total vacancies in the sector stood at 1,993, constituting just 1.3 per cent of the total unoccupied posts.

However, resignations caused only 35 per cent of vacancies in the health sector, while an overwhelming 60 per cent was caused by "other" factors which include the process of filling up the vacancies.

Overwhelming 84.13 per cent of vacancies arose in the financial services sector, as establishments felt no need to fill them up. There is no dearth of skilled workers in this space as also in IT/BPO and accommodation and restaurants sectors, showed the report.

As many as 565 vacancies were reported in the financial services sector, constituting just 0.4 per cent of the total vacancies.

Sectors	Number of vacancies reported in Q3, 2021-22	Number of vacancies reported in Q4, 2021-22	Change in vacancies in % in Q4 versus Q3 of FY22
Manufacturing	81,846	42349	-48.2
Construction	2,550	1153	-54.8
Trade	5898	10444	77.1
Transport	3229	1116	-65.4
Education	39014	25,875	-33.6
Health	47076	65,998	40.2
Accomodation & Restaurant	3763	1,993	-47
IT/BPO	1011	1,319	30.5
Financial Services	957	565	-41
Total	185343	1,50,773	-18.6

Source: Labour Bureau