Top trends that defined how India worked in 2021
In a year that was characterized by despair, hope,
resurgence, and expectations of a return to normal, India's hiring
activity witnessed interesting green shoots. As the economy recovered
from the aftermath of two consecutive COVID waves, businesses stabilized
and expanded their operations. Propelled by government
initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat, many industries witnessed rapid
growth, creating job opportunities.
While the digitization of businesses kept the demand for tech jobs steady, many unique roles emerged.
In 2021, India's hiring, and talent ecosystem was buzzing with activity.
Indeed, the world’s #1 job site reveals the most interesting trends that defined the dynamics of job search this year.
As
India returned to normalcy after a long spell of pandemic and
lockdowns, Indeed observed a high demand by organizations for unique
roles such as Professor, Loan
officers, Recruitment managers and Packagers. Data indicates that job
postings for the role of ‘professor’ witnessed a massive jump of 2,448%
between December 2020 and December 2021. There was a similar interest
from job seekers for this role as clicks for
‘’professor’ too saw an increase of 1,576%.
The
recovery in economic activity seems to have benefited the BFSI sector
too. This reflected growth in postings for jobs such as ‘Credit Manager’
(496%), ‘Loan
Officer’ (189%), and ‘Branch Manager’ (186%). Postings for tech jobs such as ‘Senior Software Engineer’ (70%), ‘Software Engineer’ (33%) and ‘Full Stack developer’ (10%)
witnessed a steady growth during the same period.
Once
the Covid 19 vaccination drive got underway, companies and employees
were better prepared to face the challenges posed by the pandemic
compared to the previous year. This
is reflected in a surge in job seeker’s interest in roles such as
‘Event coordinator’ (715%), ‘Presenter’ (562%), ‘Taxi driver’ (499%),
and ‘Customer service supervisor’ (475%). It clearly indicates that
people started getting back to the new normal and look
beyond the pandemic.
Job
postings for roles such as ‘Order Processor’ (-70%), ‘call center
representative’ (-61%), ‘Collection agent’ (-59%), ‘Machine operator’
(-59%) witnessed degrowth
during December 2020 and December 2021. Some skilled labour roles such
as ‘fitter’ (-55%) and ‘welder’ (-52%) also declined in the same period
largely due to COVID restrictions and migration of such talent back to
their hometowns.
Indeed
also saw a dip in job postings like ground staff’ (-94%), ‘horticulture
manager’ (-80%), ‘procurement assistant’ (-75%), ‘floor supervisor’
(-71%) and ‘materials manager’
(-71%) saw significant degrowth between December 2020- December 2021.
In
what can be seen as a silver lining, technology organizations increased
freshers’ postings and Indeed’s report on Freshers’ hiring indicated
that the number of freshers seeking
jobs (searches) had seen a 30% YoY increase in October 2021 compared to
October 2020. In 2021, most job seekers enthusiastically looked for
work portfolios such as software engineers and full stack developers
while other business function roles like sales
representatives and business development executives.
While
Work from Home, digitization, automation, and lockdown had their merits
and challenges for India, the big three cities viz. Bangalore, Mumbai
and Hyderabad continued to
remain the top cities searched for jobs among the job-finders and
jobseekers. Pune and Chennai followed, both have always been centres
where hiring and job searches have attracted talent from across the
country.
Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India,
said “Right
now we might have to wait and watch to understand what will be the next
big thing for the industry in 2022 and beyond. But, our data shows
India Inc’s
inclination towards the relevance of tech jobs remains steady. With
continued reliance on technological solutions to meet the needs for
shopping, remote working, and learning. Some of these trends will
continue to rule in 2022.
