Naukri JobSpeak Index, indicator of white-collar hiring activity, reported a nuanced performance in November, coming in at 2430 points, with a steady 2% year-on-year growth. It, however, means a decline of 11% when compared to October. In fact, hiring activity was at the lowest level since December 2023, implying an 11-month low.
“A consolidated view of October and November together (comprising the festive period) shows a resilient job market, posting a healthy 6% YoY growth during the festive season, majorly driven by growth in key non-IT sectors,” the report said.
Also Read | Renault goes on China hiring spree to boost EV push at home
The downtrend was led by hiring in IT, retail, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), which witnessed a year-on-year fall in the range of 7-14%. Meanwhile, healthy growth was seen in FMCG, realty, oil and gas, which saw hiring activity increase by 5-14% YoY, according to the report.
According to Naukri, the non-IT sectors emerged as fresher hiring hotspots, with sectors like architecture/interior designing (29%), facility management (27%), KPO/research/analytics (28%) and steel (+37%) witnessing substantial YoY growth in fresher hiring.
Also, the beauty and personal care sector saw 18% growth and fitness and wellness registered 17% uptick. It also saw a +32% growth in fresher hiring, the report claims. The FMCG sector continued to be on a positive trajectory, registering a 6% YoY growth in November 2024 with Delhi-NCR and Kolkata emerging as key drivers for the growth.
Also Read: The curious case of ghost job listings and three ways to identify fake vacancies
However, a contrasting trend that the report suggests is that while freshers were in demand in a few sectors, their professional peers with some experience i.e. is 0-3 years witnessed no increase in job opportunities in November when compared to November 2023. In fact, the trend was in the negative territory when it comes to those in the 4-7 years of experience level.
Meanwhile, growth in hiring for professionals with 16 plus years of experience was 14% higher compared to November 2023.
