Data from the Monster Employment Index indicates that there has been a slight uptick in job posting activity in August 2021, with a 1% increase compared to the previous month. The job analysis report by Monster.com also reveals that overall job postings have improved by 14% year-on-year (August 2021 vs August 2020), indicating a strong recovery in the pipeline. Despite the impact of the second wave of the pandemic, job demand witnessed a sequential growth of 5% in the last six months, the report states.
August 2021 saw industries such as garments/ textiles/ leather, gems & jewellery (24%) and production and manufacturing (8%) grow at a considerable pace due to seasonal hiring demands with the onset of the festive season (Aug 2021 vs July 2021). The surge in job postings could be attributed to the imminent festive season and seasonal hiring demands across industries, the report says. The Union Cabinet’s approval of the PLI scheme for textiles is expected to further boost growth in the sector. Travel and Tourism (2%) which witnessed massive M-o-M growth in July 2021, continues to show a positive outlook in August 2021, the report adds.
Additionally, in terms of functions, marketing and communication (17%) witnessed the highest month-on-month growth, largely observed in metro cities, the report states. Further, hiring for mid-senior level roles (7-10 years) indicated a monthly growth of 3% in August 2021 as compared to July 2021.
Hiring activity in metropolitan cities such as Bengaluru (59%), Chennai (37%), Pune (40%), Hyderabad (34%), Delhi-NCR (14%), and Mumbai (16%) noted a Y-o-Y uptick, largely driven by the IT- hardware, software industry. Coimbatore (7%) also showed promising growth in job postings among Tier-2 cities.
A year-on-year (Aug 2021 vs Aug 2020) comparison indicates strong growth in e-recruitment activity in IT- hardware, software (39%), closely followed by shipping/marine (37%), and telecom/ISP (36%) industries. However, industries that were deeply impacted by the second wave of the pandemic such as travel and tourism (-27%) and education (-18%) continue to witness an annual decline.
In comparison to August 2020, August 2021 data shows that job postings for top management level professionals have witnessed the highest growth at 70%. Mid-senior level (30%), intermediate level (27%), and senior-level (17%) also witnessed a positive uptick. However, entry-level profiles witnessed only slight year-on-year growth of 4% (Aug 2021 vs Aug 2020).
“With India recovering from the second wave of the pandemic, there has been positive stable growth in job postings in the month of August 2021. Moreover, with the imminent festive and seasonal demand, we expect hiring activity to flourish in the coming months, as we have already seen in the Textile and Manufacturing industries. The hiring landscape across metropolitan cities has also been consistently on the rise since May 2021, across sectors,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO - Monster.com.