Hiring activity in India registered a 15% growth in January 2019 when compared to the same month of 2018, according to the Naukri JobSpeak Index.

The Naukri JobSpeak Index for January 2019 stood at 2,251 from January 2018 1,951.

The IT-software industry recorded the biggest growth at 36% growth. Recruitment in IT-software and the human resource functional area recorded a rise of 35% and 30%, respectively.

The auto and auto ancillary industry saw an increase in hiring with a growth rate of 17%.

Meanwhile, the construction and engineering, and the pharmaceutical industry recorded a decrease in hiring of 7% and 4%, respectively.

Among the cities, hiring in Bangalore was up by 27% in January, while Mumbai was up by 10% and Delhi NCR by 8%.

Hiring for talent with 4-7 years of experience grew by 18% in January while recruitment for entry-level jobs, which falls in the experience band of 0-3 years, recorded a rise of 16% in January.

Recruitment activity for mid-management roles of 8-12 years of experience grew by 13%, while senior management roles of 13-16 years of experience witnessed a 2% growth in hiring. Roles with experience of over 16 years saw a 1% rise in recruitment activity.

The unemployment rate in India in 2017/2018 stood at 6.1%, according to a report in the Business Standard that cited an official survey withheld by the government.

The release of the leaked unemployment rate data, from the National Sample Survey Office, delivers a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi just months before what is expected to be a closely fought general election in India.

The New York Times reports that Modi’s government was accused last week of suppressing an official report on the national unemployment rate.

The report is at the centre of a controversy after two National Statistical Commission members, including the acting chairman, resigned on Monday, alleging that the government had withheld its release despite the Commission’s approval.

According to the report, unemployment stood at 7.8% in urban areas compared with 5.3% in the countryside. The labour force participation rate declined to 36.9% in 2017-18 from 39.5% in 2011-12.

The data provides the first comprehensive assessment of India’s employment since Modi’s decision in November 2016 to withdraw most of the country’s banknotes from circulation overnight.

The government has declined to confirm or deny the report.

LabourStart headline – Source: The Guardian

LabourStart headline – Source: The Guardian

The jobs situation may be even worse than was suspected.

Two economic advisers to the government resigned this week, apparently to protest the decision not to publish a report showing the jobless rate at 6.1 percent.

The majority, or eight out of ten, of employees want the duration of the notice period at work reduced to a month from three months, reports the Economic Times, citing survey data from HR Tech platform Hush. The survey polled approximately 2,800 employees in major banks and IT companies in metro cities and found that HR veterans agree that the three-month notice period is unnecessary and should only be retained for special circumstances and very senior levels. More than half the employees (51%) surveyed were junior level while 31% were mid-level and the rest (11%) were seniors. According to 93% of respondents, a three-month notice period was an inconvenience and they were forced to miss out on better opportunities. HR leaders have said that notice periods exist to ensure continuity of work and time to find a replacement. Other HR leaders have said that such a long notice period can be detrimental because employees can switch off once they resign while non-performers will also stick around for longer. Knowledge transfer was cited as a reason for long notices, however 91% of respondents said that efficient knowledge transfer is not a valid explanation for a prolonged notice period.

The majority, or 60%, of Indian workers have job-hopped in the past, according to a survey from job site Indeed.

Indeed found that job-hopping has become a common trend amongst Indian job seekers with the trend more visible amongst the millennial workforce, with 56% of respondents having job-hopped in a short duration at least once.

For the survey, workers surveyed considered a short period of employment to be 16 months or less.

Indeed also found that women employees were less likely to hop jobs in the short term when compared to their male counterparts.

Meanwhile, 56% of Indian workers have voluntarily left a role after only a short period of time, with 85% of respondents stating that they would add a job to their resume regardless of how long they had stayed in that role.

While, the concept of job hopping is not a new one, the Indian workforce is seeing a climb in project-based work and contract work, which is fuelling a willingness to switch roles more readily. The most popular reasons for leaving a role in a short period of time were that: the job did not live up to expectations (30%); it was an unhappy work environment (29%), or they were offered a better role elsewhere (38%).

Of Indeed’s survey, 49% of respondents saw job-hopping as an opportunity to learn new skills and over 43% stated job hopping could help boost their resume or identify greater job prospects.

However, the trend seems to be slightly higher amongst millennial men than women wherein, 47% of the latter surveyed have never voluntarily left a role after a short period of time, as compared to 43% of the former.

Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Indeed India said, “The millennial workforce is an interesting cohort and the world is always curious about their next move. In recent years, many studies have been commissioned to get a deeper understanding of what they, with the reputation for job-hopping, are looking for in an employer.”

“In the same way that the generation has redefined consumerism, studies indicate that the workplace is another commodity of consumption for the millennials: unless they feel the job is worth their while or are meaningfully engaged, they will look out for the next best opportunity. Employers need to devise ways in which they can retain and continue to attract this talent pool,” Kumar said.

In contrast to the attitudes of job seekers, employers continue to believe that frequent job movements are indicative of indecisiveness in a candidate and demonstrate a lack of loyalty.

A vast majority, or 87%, of employers surveyed stated that they had chosen not to interview a candidate in the past due to a history of short-term jobs. Indeed found that 69% of respondents who had changed jobs twice in the last five years stated they had been overlooked in roles they were qualified for, due to their history of job hopping.

Although 44% of respondents stated they have never job-hopped in the past, 7 in 10 respondents also reported that they had stayed in roles longer than they wanted to in order to avoid being perceived as a job hopper.

Online hiring activity in India recorded an 8% increase in December 2018 when compared to the same period in 2017, according to the latest data from the Naukri JobSpeak Index.

The Naukri JobSpeak Index for December 2018 stood at 1,987, up from 1,833 in December 2017, however it was lower than the November 2018 index of 2,084.

The index found that recruitment activity in December 2018 was driven by the auto and auto ancillary industry which recorded a year-on-year increase of 24% and the HR domain which grew by 17%. At the same time the IT-Software industry saw a growth of 14%.

Recruitment activity grew by 15% in Pune, 14% in Kolkata, 13% in Bangalore while Delhi recorded a rise of 10% in December 2018. Chennai and Mumbai both recorded a 9% rise in hiring activity.

“The year 2018 has ended with a growth in hiring across most major cities and top industries. For the past few months IT and auto or auto ancillary have been leading the growth. It has been a good year for BPO, and FMCG and we hope to see the trend in hiring to continue,” InfoEdge India CMO, Sumeet Singh said.

Recruitment for employees with 0-3 years of experience saw a rise of 9% in December 2018 while hiring for employees with 4-7 years of experience grew by 10%. Recruitment activity for middle management roles with 8-12 years of experience grew by 7%.

Meanwhile, senior management roles with 13-16 years of experience saw a 5% rise while roles with experience of over 16 years remained at the same level as in December 2017 with a 2% rise.