The job market across cities registered a dip in hiring activity. The decline was led by metros, wherein Delhi declined by 26 per cent, followed by Chennai and Hyderabad at 24 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. In Delhi/NCR, pharma industry saw a dip in hiring by 66 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively. Recruitment activities across all experience levels saw a negative growth. The demand for professionals in hospitality (63 per cent), banking (28 per cent), accounting (23 per cent) and IT-Hardware (22 per cent) sectors marked a substantial negative growth in the Capital.

Overall, there was an across the board decline in hiring activity at experience levels as well with senior experience bands (over 13 years of experience) witnessing the sharpest decline of 29 per cent while the entry-level experience band (0 to 7 years) saw a decline of 16 per cent. Some of the key industries like IT, BPO/ITES, BFSI and accounting/ finance that form a significant base of hiring activity in India within the white collar segment have shown a lesser decline during these unprecedented times.

As compared to the overall ‘JobSpeak’ index decline of 18 per cent during March 2020, the hiring activity in IT-software industry declined by 9 per cent, IT-hardware by 7 per cent, accounting/finance by 10 per cent, BFSI by 9 per cent and BPO/ITES by 1 per cent.

New jobs for professionals in the hotel / restaurants, ticketing / travel / airlines and marketing / advertising / MR / PR sectors witnessed a dip of 51 per cent, 48 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively. Functional roles in HR/administration (29 per cent), banking/insurance (23 per cent), sales/business development (20 per cent) and IT-software (16 per cent) also witnessed a decline. “It is a great time for jobseekers to upskill themselves be leveraging e-learning,” said Goyal.