At a year on year growth rate of 27 percent in May 2016 the online recruitment activities saw a decline of 25 percentage points from a robust 52 percent in January 2016 according to the latest Monster Employment Index. A marginal drop from the year on year growth of 28 percent in April 2016.

A noteworthy observation in the month of May was seen in the much publicized industry, e-commerce. Monster Employment Index [MEI] for May 2016 shows that the sector which is currently under economic scrutiny, witnessed a 35 percent year-on-year growth; one percentage point higher than in April 2016. Clearly, the sector is moving in a positive direction with steady increase in hiring activity over the months.

The online demand for Engineering professionals surged this month as well. The year-on-year growth rate paced up from 39 percent in April 2016 to 47 percent in May 2016. Charting the highest growth figures, Printing and Packaging industry is leading the rung with 67 percent growth from year-ago. The sector has been witnessing a steep double-digit annual growth rates since February 2016.

Commenting on the latest trends and developments in various sectors, Sanjay Modi, MD, Monster.com said

The MEI reveals that the online hiring sentiments is onto a slow paced growth. This hiring downturn can be attributed to domino effect caused by a global slowdown. However, the growth of the manufacturing sector in India at 7.1 percent from last year’s 5.3 percent year has had a significant bearing on the year on year spike in the online recruitment in the production and manufacturing sector. With a positive outlook for the sector that is expected to see the number of online shoppers in India grow to 175 million and Gross Merchandise value to reach $60 million by 2020, the e-commerce sector also registered a double digit year-on-year growth of 35 percent.

Monster Employment Index India results for the past 18 months are as follows

Industry Year-over-year Trends

Of the 27 industry sectors monitored by the Index 24 industry sector registered increased e-recruitment activity.

• Printing/ Packaging sector has moved up the ladder to lead all monitored industry sectors on a year-on-year basis. This month (May 2016) the sector has registered a 67 percent growth from the year-ago; the sector has been charting steep double-digit annual growth rates since February 2016. The six-month growth rate reveals, e-recruitment activity in the sector has increased by 34 percent between November 2015 and May 2016. Month-on-month, there has been an 11 percent growth in opportunities as well.
• Education (up 65 percent) sector is next in the rung. Online recruitment activity in the sector has been exhibiting uninterrupted positive growth on an annual basis since July 2015. It is notable that this is the only sector to have recorded positive month-on-month growth rate consistently since September 2015. Online hiring in the sector logged a seven percent growth on the month in May 2016.
• Online recruitment activity in IT – Hardware, Software (up 62 percent) continued to exhibit diminishing yet robust growth. For the second month in a row the sector witnessed no growth in short-term (month-on-month). Likewise, pace of growth (year-on-year) in the BPO/ITES moderated further from 20 percent in April 2016 to 18 percent in May 2016.
• Having slowed in the past months, the year-on-year growth momentum in Production and Manufacturing (up 35 percent) as well as Automotive/ Ancillaries /Tyres (up 36 percent) sector paced up in May 2016; up from 15 percent and 17 percent in April 2016 respectively. The month-on-month growth registered was also the steepest among all sectors; Automotive/ Ancillaries /Tyres (up 16 percent) and Production and Manufacturing (up 14 percent). The related Logistics, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation sector continued to growth at a steady rate of 15 percent year-on-year.
• Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/Steel registered a 42 percent growth from the year-ago; up from 24 percent in April 2016. In the related Real Estate sector, on the other hand, the year-on-year growth momentum eased further from four percent in April 2016 to one percent in May 2016.
• Healthcare, Bio Technology & Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals exceeded the corresponding period a year-ago by 40 percent maintaining a steady pace. Month-on-month, there has been no growth in online hiring.
• Among all monitored sectors, online recruitment activity eased the most in Office Equipment/Automation (down 11 percent) sector on an annual basis.

E-Commerce

E-commerce sector registered a 35 percent growth from the year ago; one percentage point higher than in April 2016. Month-on-month, the sector has seen an increased demand of four percent. This month the six-month growth rate has also improved from six percent in April 2016 to 11 percent in May 2016. The growth pattern has exhibited no significant fluctuations in the past months.

Occupation Year-over-year Trends

Online demand increased for 12 occupation groups out of the 13 monitored by the Index.

• The year-on-year growth rate moderated further for professionals at the Senior Management level; down from 79 percent in April 2016 to 69 percent in May 2016. Yet the figures portray a positive outlook owing to a significant jump since April 2015.
• Online demand for Engineering/Production surged this month. At four percent, the group registered the steepest month-on-month growth among all monitored job roles. The year-on-year growth rate paced up from 39 percent in April 2016 to 47 percent in May 2016.
• Year-on-year, Marketing & Communications (up 47 percent); Software, Hardware, Telecom (up 42 percent); Health Care (up 42 percent); Sales & Business Development (up 34 percent) are among the top in-demand job roles. The long-term growth rate moderated the most for Purchase/Logistics/Supply Chain (up 10 percent); down 27 percentage points.
• Online demand for Hospitality & Travel (up two percent) continues to decline progressively; the year-on-year growth momentum eased further by two points. The group also witnessed online opportunities slip below the three-month and six-month level by six percent and one percent respectively.
• Online demand for Arts/Creative matched the year-ago level. Year-on-year growth rate for the group has been declining progressively starting November 2015 and has a exhibited the most restrictive online demand this month.

Geographic year-over-year Trends

E-recruitment activity increased in all 13 cities monitored by the Index.

• Chandigarh (up 47 percent) led all monitored cities charting the steepest growth year-on-year even this month. The rate of growth, nevertheless, moderated from 53 percent in April 2016 to 47 percent in May 2016. There were fewer opportunities on the month; down by two percent.
• Among tier I cities, Chennai (up 40 percent) followed by Bangalore (up 39 percent) and Hyderabad (up 37 percent) registered the steepest growth from the year-ago and also ranked among the top growth cities. The growth momentum slowed in Bangalore from 47 percent in April 2016. Delhi-NCR (up 21 percent) also witnessed a slowdown in the annual growth rate by two points between April and May 2016.
• The annual growth momentum improved in Kochi; from four percent in April 2016 to 12 percent in May 2016. Nevertheless, Kochi continues to exhibit the most controlled annual growth percentage among all monitored cities.  Both three-month and six-month growth rate are still negative for the city; down three percent each.

About the Monster Employment Index

Launched in May 2010 with data collected since October 2009, the Monster Employment Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly analysis of online job posting activity in India conducted by Monster India. Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of online career outlets, including Monster India, the MEI presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide.

MEI’s underlying data is validated for accuracy by Research America, Inc.-an independent, third-party auditing firm – to ensure that measured national online job recruitment activity is within a margin of error of +/- 1.05%. For more information, please visit Monster Employment Index

The online hiring sentiments for the month of April 2016 exhibited a sluggish year-on-year growth rate at 28 percent down from 42 percent in March 2016, according to the latest Monster Employment Index [MEI].

The backbone of the Indian economy, Production and Manufacturing sector, according to the latest MEI, is going through a fragile state of affairs. Online recruitment activities in this sector have been charting a negative six-month growth consistently since January 2016; this month’s growth being a negative 7 percent. The year-on-year growth rate has declined from a dramatic 112 percent in October 2015 to 15 percent in April 2016.

While hiring in the IT sector continues to steer ahead of all the industries with a 63 percent growth. The IT sector was closely followed by Printing and Packaging industry with a growth of 60 percent since 2015. Though the Media and Entertainment sector maintained a steady growth of 47 percent, but the industry took a significant nose dive from 71 per cent in March, 2016.

Highlights of the Monster Employment Index

• IT – Hardware, Software continues to chart the steepest year-on-year growth.
• Y-o-Y growth rate in production & manufacturing has dropped from 112 percent in October 2015 to 15 percent in April 2016.
• Marketing & Communications and Health Care is the most sought after job role.
• Chandigarh, followed by Bangalore leads all cities by the way of long-term growth.

Commenting on the latest trends and developments in various sectors, Sanjay Modi, MD, Monster.com said

The MEI reveals a relative slowdown in the pace of online hiring. While the numbers are still good there is a drop from a robust 42 percent in March to 28 percent in April, 2016. We as a nation are definitely heading in the right direction for a long term gain with more streamlined employment generation initiatives and strongly driven Skill India by PM Modi with an aim to enhance employment. However, currently the scenario is a bit cautious when it comes to hiring. The Production and Manufacturing industry is yet to see the hay day but the concept of Make in India is appropriately towards greater employability.

Further on, Sanjay Modi added

Although, the IT sector continues to lead across all segments, the industry is low on the earlier vigor. The bearish response towards recruitment activities can be attributed to the shift from dependence on manpower to increase reliability on mechanization at the lower levels, especially in the IT sector. The  start-up ecosystem is currently going through a stage of healthy re calibration which is a positive trend from a long term perspective. We are optimistic that this dip is temporary and will soon fade away.

Monster Employment Index India results for the past 18 months are as follows

Industry Year-over-year Trends

All 27 industry sectors monitored by the Index exhibited improved e-recruitment activity from the year-ago.

• IT – Hardware, Software [up 63 percent] was the leading sector in terms of growth on the year for the sixth month straight. The pace of growth year-on-year, nevertheless, eased 13 percentage points between March and April 2016. At the same time the sector registered no growth on the month. Similarly, in the BPO/ITES sector, the growth momentum slowed 19 percentage points between March [up 39 percent] and April [up 20 percent] 2016
• Manufacturing & Commerce is growing at a significantly moderated pace. E-recruitment activity in Production and Manufacturing has slowed in the past months. The sector has been charting negative six-month growth consistently since January 2016; this month’s growth being negative seven percent. The year-on-year growth rate has declined from a dramatic 112 percent in October 2015 to 15 percent in April 2016. Logistics, Courier/Freight/Transportation, however, recorded a 15 percent growth from the year-ago level; four points higher that March 2016
• Education [up 57 percent]; Media & Entertainment [up 47 percent]; Healthcare, Bio Technology & Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals [up 40 percent] have registered some of the steepest year-on-year growth percentages this month. The growth momentum vis-a-vis March 2016 has eased in each of these sectors nevertheless. Printing/Packaging sector was second from the top in the long-term growth chart with a 60 percent growth in opportunities from the year-ago
• Retail sector witnessed a nine percent growth from the year-ago level; 31 points lower than March 2016. It is notable that the sector has been growing in double-digits since March 2015 and this is the lowest annual growth recorded since that time.
• Year-on-year, online recruitment activity in Import/Export [up 7 percent] and Shipping/Marine [up 8 percent] was positive this month following low levels in March 2016. Real Estate [up 4 percent] exhibited the most controlled annual growth among all monitored industry groups

E-Commerce

E-commerce sector continued to grow at an eased up pace vis-a-vis the past months. Both three-month and six-month growth rate moderated further while there was no growth on the month. It is notable however that the sector is going strong on an annual basis. E-recruitment activity in the sector exceeded the corresponding period a year-ago by a robust 34 percent

Occupation Year-over-year Trends

All 13 occupation groups monitored by the Index continued to exhibit improved demand on the year

• There continues to be high call at the Senior Management level. Online demand this month is 79 percent higher than April 2015 despite marginal slowdown in pace between March & April 2016
• While growth momentum [YoY] slowed for all the monitored job roles, Marketing & Communications [up 47 percent];Health Care [up 45 percent]; Software, Hardware, Telecom [up 43 percent] saw the steepest growth in demand. Demand for Finance & Accounts [up 26 percent] slipped one percent below the six-month [October 2015] level.
• Online demand for Hospitality & Travel [up 4 percent] personnel was the most restrained as the year-on-year growth rate moderated further from 15 percent in March 2016

Geographic year-over-year Trends

All 13 cities monitored by the Index registered positive growth on the year even this month. The pace of growth eased in all 13 cities

• Chandigarh [up 53 percent] supplanted Bangalore [up 47 percent] to lead all monitored cities by the way of long-term growth. Bangalore witnessed a two percent decline in opportunities on the month while the annual growth rate was 17 points lower than March 2016 [up 64 percent]
• Delhi-NCR [up 23 percent] saw annual growth rate one percentage point lower than March 2016 [24 percent]. The growth momentum in Delhi-NCR has not fluctuated significantly since November 2015
• Year-on-year growth rate plunged the most in Kochi [up four percent]. Online recruitment activity in Kochi has dipped in the past months reflected in negative three-month growth rates since January 2016. This month the Index for the series slipped four percent below the six-month ago [October 2015] level

About the Monster Employment Index
Launched in May 2010 with data collected since October 2009, the Monster Employment Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly analysis of online job posting activity in India conducted by Monster India. Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of online career outlets, including Monster India, the MEI presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide.

MEI’s underlying data is validated for accuracy by Research America, Inc. – an independent, third-party auditing firm – to ensure that measured national online job recruitment activity is within a margin of error of +/- 1.05%. For more information, please visit Monster Employment Index