Hinting at sluggish employment market conditions in the country, hiring activities across various sectors witnessed a significant slump in December, 2011, job portal Naukri.Com said in a report today.
According Naukri.Com's monthly job market index, the online hiring declined by 10% in December 2011, from the previous month's level as recruitment activities witnessed a dip across most key sectors, including IT and telecom.
However, the hiring activities grew by 16% on year-on-year basis, found the monthly survey by Naukri.Com, which is run by Info Edge (India).
"There has been sluggishness in the hiring sentiment towards the end of 2011 and most firms had adopted a cautious optimistic wait and watch approach. A similar trend is likely in the first quarter of 2012 as well," Info Edge CEO and Managing Director Hitesh Oberoi said.
According to experts, the recent dip in the job market can be attributed to uncertain economic environment and year-end holidays, which generally sees a lull in hiring activities.
The job index for the IT sector witnessed a 20% dip in December vis-a-vis the previous month, while online hiring by telecom and oil and gas companies fell in the range of 20% to 27%.
However, hiring activities in the auto sector rose by 6% during the month.
Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi saw their hiring activities decline by 19%, 15% and 14%, respectively.
Professionals in software and BPO sector witnessed their recruitment activity dip by 15% and 21% respectively in the December-vis-vis previous month.
The demand for professionals in sales, project management and accounts segments also fell during the month.
