India Inc Hiring Activity Up, 71% Firms Recruiting Staff: Survey

A survey by international recruitment firm Antal shows that hiring activity of India Inc has gone up significantly since September last year and the current recruitment level is one of the highest globally, reported PTI.

The survey covered over 6,000 firms in 30 countries and asked them if they were hiring at managerial and professional level and planned to do so in the coming quarter as well, said report.

Survey revealed that nearly 71 per cent Indian companies said that they were presently hiring compared to around half in September, said report.

Only Nigeria, with hiring rate of 79 per cent, is the only country found ahead of India in the survey, said report.

“Confidence is back at its peak in the Indian job markets, its happy days again for job seekers,” Antal International Managing Partner Joseph Devasia was quoted as saying.

The survey further showed that Indian firms were planning to increase their hiring activity even more, with 78 per cent expecting to hire managerial staff over the next three months, said report.

“Combined with a very low rate of letting people go (16 per cent and set to drop by a further three per cent) the results indicate a strong employment market which is improving all the time,” the Antal report noted about India.

China and Pakistan were two other countries found with high rates of hiring activity with former having a rate of 71 per cent while the latter, of 70 per cent, said report, adding, though China predicts an increase in recruitment activity, Pakistan forecasts a drop of 25 per cent.

“Manufacturing & auto sectors along with the traditional IT, FMCG, pharma companies have ramped up hiring, against what we witnessed in our previous survey. Increased hiring indicates that the need for exceptional talent is now ever more,” Devasia added.

Antal said that globally although a few countries are still seeing a decline in the employment market, the global picture has definitely improved once again.

“As a result we are already seeing the first clear signs of organisations thinking in terms of the ‘war for talent’ once more with more robust businesses making early moves to snap up the best people in their markets before general recovery becomes too apparent,” Antal CEO Tony Goodwin said.