India saw 6% decline in hiring in October amid funding winter: Report

India saw a 6 per cent drop in hiring activity (year-on-year) in October, amid changing patterns in the start-up ecosystem, funding winter and fears of an upcoming recession, a report showed on Tuesday. Month-on-month job postings also saw a 5 per cent decline in the country.

However, with companies ramping up internal initiatives to facilitate growth and government interventions in promising sectors, hiring projections for the coming months are expected to pick up, according to Monster Employment Index. The ongoing global economic contraction has trickled down to India with recruiters adopting a cautious approach to hiring.

Amid the slow down, jobs in automation showcased an increase (34 per cent) in hiring activity with companies maximising efficiency and productivity through tech. Similarly, industries such as banking and finance and telecom did well, with technology driving innovation and growth in both sectors.

Artificial intelligence and Blockchain are transforming the BFSI sector, while the onset of 5G is transforming the growth of telecom. "While macroeconomic conditions have pushed companies to adopt a watchful approach to hiring, the need for skilled talent is unlikely to ever go away. Hence, it is important that today's workforce upskill and reskill themselves on an individual and organisational level," said Sekhar Garisa, CEO, Monster.com, a Quess company.

Tier 2 cities such as Coimbatore and Ahmedabad posted a marginal incline in job activity on an annual basis whereas demand fell in major metropolitan cities of India. Among tier 1 cities, hiring remained stable in Mumbai whereas metros such as Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad posted a downward trend in recruitment activities. Industries such as BPO/ITES and Media and Entertainment continued to demonstrate a declining hiring trend from the year-ago level.