Hiring for white-collar jobs declined 19 percent in July compared to the year-ago period as many sectors, including FMCG, retail, insurance and education, witnessed cautious recruitment sentiments, according to a report. According to the Naukri JobSpeak Index released on Tuesday, job postings for white-collar hiring in July stood at 2,573, down 8 percent compared to the previous month, and down 19 percent compared to July 2022.
Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly index representing the state of the country's job market and hiring activity based on new job listings and job-related searches by recruiters on the resume database of Naukri.com. The IT industry hiring continued to remain an area of concern, with a 46 percent decline in new jobs created compared to July last year, it said. Besides IT, FMCG, retail, BPO, insurance, and education sectors showed cautious hiring sentiments with a 16-23 percent decline in new job creation compared to July last year.
Sectors focused on the domestic economy, such as oil and gas and real estate, continued to hire aggressively. This reflected a resilience in the domestic economy, the report said. "Positive hiring trends witnessed across domestic sectors such as oil and gas, real estate, and hospitality, along with stable hiring for AI-related roles, showcase the adaptability and diversification of the Indian job market," said Pawan Goyal, chief business officer at Naukri.com. Meanwhile, new job openings in AI-related fields stayed flat at around 31,780 compared to 32,205 in June.
With the ongoing boom in AI, demand for niche roles such as full-stack AI scientists and ML engineers is strong with the number of new job openings in July up 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively, compared to the beginning of the year. The demand for these roles is strongest in the tech and finance sectors, the report said. In terms of cities, Jaipur and Vadodara showed a steady rise in hiring indices, with a 4 percent and 2 percent increase, respectively, in hiring trends compared to July last year, driven by oil and gas, pharma, and auto sectors.
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