 "White-collar hiring remains muted in June; AI, FMCG show strong growth")
Hiring for white-collar jobs in June 2024 experienced a decline compared to the same month last year, highlighting the continued challenges faced in the job market. The Naukri JobSpeak Index, which tracks white-collar hiring activity in India, revealed an 8 per cent year-on-year drop.
The report highlighted that while most sectors reported flattish growth, the overall index was dragged down by Global Capability Centers (GCCs) with a 7 per cent year-on-year decline, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) by 9 per cent, and Education by 9 per cent.
However, there were some positive highlights, with sectors like pharma/ biotech, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI-ML), and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) showing notable growth, with a 20 per cent and 12 per cent spike in hirings respectively.
Sectoral performance highlights
The pharma/ biotech sector showed resilience, driven by significant hiring increases in cities such as Baroda (27 per cent), Hyderabad (18 per cent), and Mumbai (14 per cent). This sector’s growth was primarily fuelled by professionals with over 16 years of experience, contributing to a 58 per cent year-on-year increase in hiring.
In the IT sector, despite a tepid hiring season, cities like Jaipur (16 per cent), Kochi (6 per cent), and Delhi-NCR (4 per cent) emerged as bright spots, the report noted. Unicorn companies recorded an impressive 30 per cent growth, overshadowing the subdued hiring in smaller startups.
The FMCG sector continued its healthy growth, powered by strong performances in metropolitan areas. Bangalore saw a 24 per cent increase, Delhi 23 per cent, and Mumbai an impressive 34 per cent. While fresher hiring saw a marginal 3 per cent increase, there was a robust 41 per cent growth for professionals with over 16 years of experience.
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Geographical hiring disparities
The report highlighted a significant performance disparity between different regions. Gujarat and Rajasthan emerged as leaders, with cities like Jodhpur (36 per cent), Rajkot (35 per cent), Kota (21 per cent), Udaipur (13 per cent), Surat (13 per cent), and Jamnagar (13 per cent) leading in new job creation.
Conversely, major metros such as Bangalore and Mumbai saw declines of 9 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.
Despite the overall sequential decline, hiring for senior professionals with more than 16 years of experience showed a 13 per cent growth compared to June 2023. However, this growth rate was lower than the previous month’s 23 per cent surge.
Mini-metros drive hiring
Pawan Goyal, chief business officer of Naukri.com, the flagship brand of Info Edge, commented on the shifting dynamics in the Indian hiring landscape, “As we’ve reported over the past year, the power dynamic shift in the Indian hiring landscape is well and truly underway, with mini-metros consistently outpacing their metro counterparts. Gujarat has been a silver lining in an otherwise turbulent market, and it’s now encouraging to see emerging cities in Rajasthan such as Jodhpur and Udaipur join the fray.”
The Naukri JobSpeak Index, based on new job listings and job-related searches by recruiters on Naukri.com’s resume database, uses July 2008 as the base month (index value of 1000). It captures hiring activity across various dimensions, including industries, cities, functional areas, and experience bands. However, the report does not cover gig employment, hyperlocal hiring, or campus placements.