Non-IT sectors like Insurance, Banking & Real Estate continue to grow, even as IT, BPO & Retail witness slowdown compared to first half of 2022

The hiring activity in Indian white-collar professional segment showed resilience and long-term stability in December despite slowdowns in some key sectors. Naukri JobSpeak, country's premier job index, emerged at 2890 in Dec’22 up from 2770 during Dec’21. The momentum generated in the beginning of 2022 sustained into the second half of this year, barring a few key sectors. In light of the worrying signs visible in global markets, December hiring activity in India ended up +4% compared to Dec’21. However, a sector-wise analysis comparing Dec’22 to first half of 2022 (Jan-Jun period) reveals a mixed trend. In a nutshell, the growth in domestic economy-driven sectors & non-metro cities has offset the slowdown seen IT & BPO, resulting in sequential stability at aggregate level. Detailed analyses below.

Domestic economy-driven sectors offset dips in IT/BPO sectors linked to global markets
Compared to Dec’21 , stable growth was seen across multiple sectors. But the mix shifted in the second half of 2022, with domestic-economy-driven sectors recording stronger growths. Dec’22 numbers when compared to the first half of 2022, showed a robust 51% growth in hiring activity for insurance sector. Other sectors, which recorded an upward trend vs first half of 2022, include Oil (33%), Banking (24%), Real estate (21%), and Auto (12%). However, IT & BPOs - sectors linked to global markets declined by 19% and 9% respectively in Dec’22 vs first half of the year, with start-up hiring impacted the most.

Non-Metro cities continue to outpace larger IT-dependent markets
Amongst non-metros, Ahmedabad led the list with 39% growth, followed by Vadodara at 29%, and Jaipur at 16%. Among the top-tier metro cities, Delhi/NCR and Mumbai witnessed 12% growth in hiring activity compared to the monthly average of the first half of the year.  Similar trend was observed for Kolkata as well where new jobs created grew by 3%. On the contrary, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, largely dependent on IT sector, showed a decline of -4%, -7%, -11%, -15% respectively.

Demand for senior professionals continues
The long-term demand for professionals across levels was stable throughout the year. Professionals having 16+ years reported 26% of growth and the 13-16 years of experience segment rose by 15%. However, the largest segment that comprises freshers and mid-experience professionals remained flat.

Commenting on the report, Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer, Naukri.com said, “The Indian job market exhibited favorable hiring activity in 2022, with a 20% increase in new job creation compared to the full year base of 2021. However, we do witness a correction in key sectors like IT and BPO towards latter half of the year currently being offset by hiring activity uptick in Non-IT sectors like Insurance, Banking and Real Estate. This reaffirms the multi-sectoral and balanced footprint of the Indian white-collar job market. As we enter 2023, the positive trends observed in non-IT sectors and smaller cities, keep us watchful yet optimistic with respect to 2023.”