The Naukri JobSpeak Index for March 2020 at 1,954 marks a decline of 18% in hiring activity compared to March 2019 at 2,378. The hiring activity showed early signs of slowdown starting from the month of January 2020 where the index grew by only 5.75% followed by no growth in February 2020.
The decline in hiring activity is led by industries like hotel/restaurant/travel/airlines (56%), retail (50%), auto/ancillary (38%), pharma (26%), insurance (11%), accounting/finance (10%), IT-software (9%) and BFSI (9%).
The job market across cities too registered a dip in hiring activity. The decline was led by metros wherein Delhi declined by 26% followed by Chennai and Hyderabad at 24% and 18% respectively. There was an across the board decline in hiring activity at experience levels as well with senior experience bands ( greater than 13 years experience) witnessing the sharpest decline of 29% while the entry-level experience band (0 to 7 years) saw a decline of 16%.
Commenting on the report, Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com, said, “The pandemic has impacted Y-o-Y growth in hiring activities, leading to an 18% decline. The negative sentiment on hiring was visible in the JobSpeak index starting January 2020, mirroring the economic trends. The hiring activity for the first 20 days of March 2020 saw only a 5% decline. However, due to the nationwide lockdown, there was a substantial drop in recruitment activity in the last 10 days which resulted in an overall drop of 18% in hiring. Industries like hotel, travel, aviation and retail have declined the most.”
Other key industries that showed a decline in hiring activity in the said period were — retail (50%), auto/auto ancillary (38%), pharma (26%), insurance (11%), accounting/finance (10%), IT-Software (9%) and BFSI (9%).
Some of the key industries like IT, BPO/ITES, BFSI and accounting/finance that form a significant base of hiring activity in India within the white-collar segment have shown a lesser decline during these unprecedented times. As compared to the overall JobSpeak index decline of 18% during March 2020 Y-o-Y, the hiring activity in IT-Software industry declined by 9%, IT-Hardware by 7%, Accounting/finance by 10%, BFSI by 9% and BPO/ITES by 1% only.
