Online hiring sees 14% points drop in YoY growth - Monster Employment Index- April'16

The online hiring sentiments for the month of April 2016 exhibited a sluggish year-on-year growth rate at 28 percent down from 42 percent in March 2016, according to the latest Monster Employment Index (MEI).

The backbone of the Indian economy, Production and Manufacturing sector, according to the latest MEI, is going through a fragile state of affairs. Online recruitment activities in this sector have been charting a negative six-month growth consistently since January 2016; this month’s growth being a negative 7 percent. The year-on-year growth rate has declined from a dramatic 112 percent in October 2015 to 15 percent in April 2016. While hiring in the IT sector continues to steer ahead of all the industries with a 63 percent growth. The IT sector was closely followed by Printing and Packaging industry with a growth of 60 percent since 2015. Though the Media and Entertainment sector maintained a steady growth of 47 percent, but the industry took a significant nose dive from 71 per cent in March, 2016.

Commenting on the latest trends and developments in various sectors, Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India/ Middle- East/ South East Asia/ Hong Kong) said “The MEI reveals a relative slowdown in the pace of online hiring. While the numbers are still good there is a drop from a robust 42 percent in March to 28 percent in April, 2016. We as a nation are definitely heading in the right direction for a long term gain with more streamlined employment generation initiatives and strongly driven Skill India by PM Modi with an aim to enhance employment. However, currently the scenario is a bit cautious when it comes to hiring. The Production and Manufacturing industry is yet to see the hay day but the concept of Make in India is appropriately towards greater employability.”

Further on, Mr. Modi said, “Although, the IT sector continues to lead across all segments, the industry is low on the earlier vigor. The bearish response towards recruitment activities can be attributed to the shift from dependence on manpower to increase reliability on mechanization at the lower levels, especially in the IT sector. The  start-up ecosystem is currently going through a stage of healthy recalibration which is a positive trend from a long term perspective. We are optimistic that this dip is temporary and will soon fade away.”

Industry Year-over-year Trends: All 27 industry sectors monitored by the Index exhibited improved e-recruitment activity from the year-ago.

• IT - Hardware, Software (up 63 percent) was the leading sector in terms of growth on the year for the sixth month straight. The pace of growth year-on-year, nevertheless, eased 13 percentage points between March and April 2016. At the same time the sector registered no growth on the month. Similarly, in the BPO/ITES sector, the growth momentum slowed 19 percentage points between March (up 39 percent) and April (up 20 percent) 2016

• Manufacturing and Commerce is growing at a significantly moderated pace. E-recruitment activity in Production and Manufacturing has slowed in the past months. The sector has been charting negative six-month growth consistently since January 2016; this month’s growth being negative seven percent. The year-on-year growth rate has declined from a dramatic 112 percent in October 2015 to 15 percent in April 2016. Logistic, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation, however, recorded a 15 percent growth from the year-ago level; four points higher that March 2016

• Education (up 57 percent); Media & Entertainment (up 47 percent); Healthcare, Bio Technology & Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals (up 40 percent) have registered some of the steepest year-on-year growth percentages this month. The growth momentum vis-à-vis March 2016 has eased in each of these sectors nevertheless. Printing/ Packaging sector was second from the top in the long-term growth chart with a 60 percent growth in opportunities from the year-ago

• Retail sector witnessed a nine percent growth from the year-ago level; 31 points lower than March 2016. It is notable that the sector has been growing in double-digits since March 2015 and this is the lowest annual growth recorded since

• Year-on-year, online recruitment activity in Import/Export (up seven percent) and Shipping/Marine (up eight percent) was positive this month following low levels in March 2016. Real Estate (up four percent) exhibited the most controlled annual growth among all monitored industry groups

E-Commerce: E-commerce sector continued to grow at an eased up pace vis-à-vis the past months. Both three-month and six-month growth rate moderated further while there was no growth on the month. It is notable however that the sector is going strong on an annual basis. E-recruitment activity in the sector exceeded the corresponding period a year-ago by a robust 34 percent .

Occupation Year-over-year Trends: All 13 occupation groups monitored by the Index continued to exhibit improved demand on the year

• There continues to be high call at the Senior Management Online demand this month is 79 percent higher than April 2015 despite marginal slowdown in pace between March and April 2016
• While growth momentum (year-on-year) slowed for all monitored job roles, Marketing & Communications (up 47 percent); Health Care (up 45 percent); Software, Hardware, Telecom (up 43 percent) saw the steepest growth in demand.  Demand for Finance & Accounts (up 26 percent) slipped one percent below the six-month (October 2015) level
• Online demand for Hospitality & Travel (up four percent) personnel was the most restrained as the year-on-year growth rate moderated further from 15 percent in March 2016

Geographic year-over-year Trends: All 13 cities monitored by the Index registered positive growth on the year even this month. The pace of growth eased in all 13 cities

• Chandigarh (up 53 percent) supplanted Bangalore (up 47 percent) to lead all monitored cities by the way of long-term growth. Bangalore witnessed a two percent decline in opportunities on the month while the annual growth rate was 17 points lower than March 2016 (up 64 percent)

• Delhi-NCR (up 23 percent) saw annual growth rate one percentage point lower than March 2016 (24 percent). The growth momentum in Delhi-NCR has not fluctuated significantly since November 2015

• Year-on-year growth rate plunged the most in Kochi (up four percent). Online recruitment activity in Kochi has dipped in the past months reflected in negative three-month growth rates since January 2016. This month the Index for the series slipped four percent below the six-month ago (October 2015) level.