The June’ 2020 decline in hiring is led by industries like Hotel/Restaurant/Travel/Airlines (-79%), Retail (-68%), Auto/Ancillary (-76%), and BFSI (-55%). Key industries like Pharma/Biotech/Clinical Research (-28%), BPO/ITES (-42%) and IT-Software (-42%) were less affected Y-O-Y.

The Naukri JobSpeak Index for June 2020, at 1208, marks an improvement of 33% in hiring activity as compared to May 2020, at 910. The improvement could be attributed to nation-wide relaxations introduced by the government under Unlock 1.0. However, when we looked at Y-O-Y developments, the hiring activity is still down by 44% in June 2020 when compared to June 2019. 

The job market across cities registered a double-digit dip in hiring Y-O-Y. The decline was led by metros wherein Mumbai declined by 56% followed by Delhi (-54%) and Chennai (-52%). There was an across the board decline in hiring at varied experience levels with the entry-level experience bands (0 to 3 yrs exp) witnessing the sharpest decline of 47% followed by a 44% decline in hiring for senior-level executives. (4-7 yrs. exp.)

Referring to the report, Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com said, “It is encouraging to see that the announcement of Unlock 1.0 in India has resulted in the month on month progressive growth in hiring. While the Y-O-Y hiring is still impacted leading to a decline of 44% in June’ 20, key industries such as IT, BPO/ITES, FMCG and Accounting have seen a significant uptick in hiring this month as compared to the last two months. We, at Naukri, are hopeful that the hiring activity will bounce back in the coming months.” 

Month on Month Hiring Activity deep-dive - June’20 versus May’20

While we see a Y-O-Y decline in hiring activity in June’20, it is encouraging to see recruitment picking pace in the current month as compared to the last month. Key sectors like FMCG (58%), Accounting (53%), BPO/ITES (48%), IT-Hardware (37%) and IT-Software (19%) drove the surge. In addition, functional roles in Education/Teaching (49%), Pharma/Biotech (36%) and Sales/Business Development (33%) saw an uptick in M-O-M hiring. Hiring across experience levels also grew by an average of 28% in June’20 as compared to May’20 led by the entry-level executives’ band (0-3 yrs. exp.)

Hiring in Hospitality, Retail and Auto sectors has been the most impacted due to the lockdown. However, with the Unlock 1.0 initiative undertaken by the government in June’20, we see a revival in recruitment activities in these sectors as well. Hiring in the Hospitality sector witnessed an increase of 107% M-O-M followed by the retail and auto sectors picking up by 77% each.

City-wise deepdive of Hiring Activity

The Y-O-Y recruitment activity across all cities saw a double-digit dip during the month of June’20. Some of the hiring trends observed across key cities are as follows:

1. Mumbai: Recruitment in Mumbai decreased by 56% in June 2020. Hiring in the Hospitality sector was most impacted with a dip of 88%. In addition, the Auto and IT-Software sectors saw a dip of 59% each. The recruitment activity across experience levels saw a dip of an average 54%. The demand for professionals in roles across the Hospitality and Accounting sectors declined by 84% and 60% respectively.

2. Delhi/NCR: Hiring activity in the capital city witnessed a decline of 54%.  The Hospitality and BFSI industries saw a dip in hiring by 85% and 68% respectively. Recruitment activities across all experience levels saw a negative growth of an average 44%. The demand for professionals in the Hospitality (-80%), Accounting (-57%) and Banking (-56%) sectors marked a substantial decline.

3. Chennai: Recruitment activities in Chennai dropped by 52%. The demand for professionals in the Hospitality, BPO/ITES and IT industry saw a decline of 67%, 52%, and 50% respectively. Hiring across all experience bands saw a double-digit decline with hiring for the entry-level executives (0-3 yrs exp) seeing the sharpest decline of 60% this month as compared to last year same time. The hiring activity in the Hospitality (-86%) and Auto (-75%) industry was most affected.

4. Bangalore: Overall hiring activity in Bangalore witnessed a drop of 46%. There has been a dip in hiring across all experience levels. However, leadership hiring for +16 yrs experience was least impacted (-38%). Hiring in the Hospitality and Accounting sectors saw a decline of 87% and 56% respectively. The demand for professionals in the Hospitality and IT-Hardware sectors saw a steep decline of 88% and 50% respectively in June’ 2020 as compared to June’ 2019. 

5. Hyderabad: Hiring in Hyderabad declined by 45% this month as compared to last year same time. The hiring activity was most affected in the Hospitality industry (-87%) and least affected in Pharma (-3%). Hiring across experience levels saw a dip of an average 37%. The demand for professionals was most impacted in the Hospitality sector (-94%) followed by Accounting and BFSI with a decline of 55% each.

6. Kolkata: The city saw a dip of 44% in recruitment activity. The Hospitality (-95%) and Accounting (-75%) sectors contributed to the downfall in industry hiring. All experience bands recorded a decline in hiring activity. The demand for professionals in the Hospitality and Banking sector saw a decline of 89% and 53% respectively. 

7. Pune: The city saw a dip in recruitment activity by 42%. The demand for professionals was most impacted in the Hospitality sector (-83%) and least impacted in the Pharma industry (-7%). The Hospitality and FMCG industries recorded a decline of 83% and 66% respectively. Amongst experience bands, Pune saw a negative growth across experience levels of an average 36%.