67 pct recruiters expect new jobs in next 6 months amid rising talent crunch: Naukri's Survey

Despite an increase in the job market in the first half of 2017, finding the right talent will prove difficult for recruiters due to an on-going talent crunch. This sentiment has emerged from Naukri's Hiring Outlook survey 2017 a half yearly survey conducted to gauge the hiring sentiment across companies and industries.

"As per the Naukri Hiring Outlook Survey, recruiters are cautiously optimistic about the hiring outlook over the next six months. 67 percent of the recruiters are expecting new jobs to be created and 78 percent of the respondent project maximum job creation in the one to eight years' experience range," said Chief Sales Officer Naukri.com, V. Suresh.

"Recruiters from industries viz. IT, ITES, BFSI, Pharma, Automobile and manufacturing are expecting the job market to move north. As far as increments are concerned, 30 percent recruiters surveyed feel the average increments could be around 15 percent in the current appraisal cycle. Looks like good times ahead for the jobseekers," added Suresh.

While there was optimism in terms of job creation and growth, there was also concern amongst the recruiter community about the availability of talented jobseekers to fill the new job openings being created. 44 percent of the respondents felt that the talent crunch grew worse in the Jul - Dec 2016 period when compared to the six months preceding it.

In terms of their outlook towards the future, recruiters are not very

optimistic about the talent crunch situation improving. Only 21 percent of the respondents felt that the talent crunch will improve in the next six months. 41 percent of the recruiters felt that the situation will remain unchanged while 38 percent expected talent crunch to get worse in the coming six months.

Responding to the experience level at which the Talent Crunch is most high, 71 percent recruiters agree that the one to eight years' experience or the middle managements band is worst hit.

Job Creation:

IT-Software, BFSI and Auto/Auto Ancillary lead the chart for job creation with 25 percent, eight percent and eight percent of the respondents respectively stating that they felt that maximum jobs would be created in these industries. In the previous Hiring Outlook also, IT-Software industry had emerged as the front runner with 25 percent proportion of recruiters voting for it (14 percent and six percent respectively in the Jan 2016 Hiring Outlook).

A majority of the polled recruiters 42 percent anticipated that most new jobs would get created in the entry level. This is a change from earlier survey when most recruiters had felt that most job opportunities would be created at middle management level positions.

Jobseeker Insights:

As a part of the Naukri Hiring Outlook survey, consultants are asked to share their understanding of jobseeker behaviour related with job search and change.

42 percent of the consultants said that five to ten percent jobseekers do not join a company after an offer has been made to them. 21 percent of them quoted this range to be 10 percent to 15 percent and 13 percent of consultants have put this figure in the range of 15 percent to 20 percent.

48 percent of the consultants reported salary to be a primary driver of job change in jobseekers. 31 percent of the consultants reported growth prospects as a primary reason driving the need for a change in job. Relationship with the boss, work life balance, designation and location of work were other reasons that were reported as important when considering a job change.