An uptick in the job market in the second half of 2016 is the key sentiment that has emerged from Naukri’s Hiring Outlook survey 2016, conducted among 1300 recruiters and consultants representing more than 20 industries.
According to the survey, 77% of the recruiters predict that new jobs would be created in the coming months, Naukri — India’s largest recruitment website, said.
IT-Software lead the chart for job creation with 24% of the polled recruiters forecasting maximum job creation to happen in this industry. This is followed by ITES and Retail with 15% and 11% recruiters anticipating maximum new job creation in these industries respectively.
“The job market continues to sustain the momentum gained in the first half and is poised to head north. More than 77% of the respondents are optimistic of new job creation in the second half of 2016,” said V. Suresh, Chief Sales Officer, Naukri.com.
India has seen a deceleration in its economic growth in the last two years due to a variety of reasons, including global cues and stress in the country’s financial and banking sector.
The government has, in recent months, sought to kickstart the economy with a slew of reform measures, particularly around permitting foreign investments into hitherto restricted sectors. It has also tried to reduce red tape by doing away with certain laws.
A pick-up in hiring sentiment can be seen as a precursor to an overall acceleration in the economy.
Naukri said 51% of the polled recruiters felt that not only would replacement hiring happen but that new jobs would also get created in addition in the coming 6 months.
Another 26% were of the opinion that new jobs would get created in addition of existing headcount.
Only 4% of the respondents felt that no hiring would take place, in the previous edition of the survey conducted in Dec 2015, 7% of the respondents had felt that no hiring would take place. The proportion of recruiters who anticipate layoffs to happen stood constant at 2%.
IT-Software and ITES emerged as the strongest contenders for maximum job creation with 25% and 15% of the respondents respectively stating that they felt that maximum jobs would be created in these industries.
In the previous Hiring Outlook also, these industries had emerged as front runners albeit with a smaller proportion of recruiters voting for them (14% and 6% respectively in the Jan 2016 Hiring Outlook).
A majority of the polled recruiters – 51% – anticipated that most new jobs would get created in the middle management level.
“This is a change from earlier trends when most recruiters had felt that most job opportunities would be created at entry level positions. When the Hiring Outlook was last conducted, only 33% of the recruiters had expected maximum job creation to happen in middle management ranks,” Naukri added.
Attrition & Talent Crunch
Only 16% of the respondents felt that attrition levels would get worse in the second half of 2016 when compared to the first half. Almost half i.e. 52% expect attrition to remain at similar levels while 32% are optimistic and feel that attrition level would actually reduce.
“While there was optimism in terms of job creation and growth, there was also concern amongst the recruiter community about the availability of talented jobseekers to fill the new job openings being created. An overwhelming majority i.e. 70% of the respondents felt that the talent crunch grew worse in the Jan – Jun 2016 period when compared to the six months preceding it.”
In terms of their outlook towards the future, recruiters are not very optimistic about the talent crunch situation improving. Only 22% of the respondents felt that the talent crunch will improve in the next six months. 46% of the recruiters felt that the situation will remain unchanged while 32% expected talent crunch to get worse in the coming six months.
Mirroring the forecast about the experience levels expected to see maximum job creation, most recruiters (44%) reported that they witnessed the greatest talent crunch in middle management experience band.
In keeping with earlier trends, most recruiters and consultants felt that the prospect of better salaries (27%), growth prospects (18%) and a desire to strike work life balance (12%) remain the biggest reasons behind switching of jobs by jobseekers, the portal said.
The Hiring Outlook survey also delved into the reasons behind candidates not joining a company even after an offer has been made to them. 41% of the respondents reported that this happened since the candidate receives an even better offer compared to what they have in hand. Another 25% reported that the candidates back out since their company is successful in the bid to retain talent.