Hiring activity in India hit a record high in February, according to the latest readings of the Naukri.com Job Speak index.
The Index hit a record level of 1209 — indicating that hiring levels were about 20% higher than in July 2008, which forms the base month for the index.
It had previously hit a high of 1,197 in November last year. In October, the index had gone down to 921.
The February number is a record since Naukri started calculating the index a few years ago.
“This also dovetails with the optimism in the Naukri Hiring Outlook Survey where 72% of recruiters had said that new jobs will be created in the first half of 2012,” Naukri said.
“A month on month comparison of the job index shows that barring a few sectors, hiring activity in most industries, cities and functional areas have been moving in a positive direction. When we compare the Feb-12 index with the Feb-11 index then there has been a 15% jump in hiring activity,” it added.
“A look at the job indices for the last few months shows high volatility with the index swinging between highs and lows every successive month. The index for February should be seen in that light. One interpretation is of cautious optimism and a case for selective hiring,” said Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO, Info Edge India (owner of Naukri.com).
Banking and IT sectors witnessed maximum movement in the employment front with the index moving up by 13%, 12% and 7% respectively in Feb-12 when compared to the previous month.
Oil and Gas sector saw a 2% dip in hiring activity while Telecom and Capital goods sector witnessed steady hiring levels when compared to Jan-12.
The hottest skill-sets for the month of Feb-12 were professionals in Sales, Accounts and HR where the index moved up by 11%, 9% and 8% respectively as compared to the last month.
The demand for professionals in Software services moved up by 6% in Feb-12 over Jan-12, while the demand for professionals in BPO services and Marketing remained steady.
Bangalore and Chennai maintained strong hiring trends with the index moving up by 10% and 12% in Feb-12 as compared to the previous month. Pune and Hyderabad have also been upbeat about hiring with the index moving up by 9% and 8% respectively in Feb-12 over Jan-12. Delhi maintained steady hiring levels while both Mumbai and Kolkata saw the index moving up by 5% respectively in Feb-12 over Jan-12.