White-Collar Hiring Falls 6% In August On Cautious Sentiment In It, Auto Sectors: Report

Relevance: GS3 - Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it GS1 - Population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues

(Source: The Hindu, 09/05/2023)

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Why in the news?

Recently, the Naukri JobSpeak index on the state of the Indian job market revealed that white-collar hiring in India declined by 6% in August 2023 as compared to the previous year.

What does the Naukri JobSpeak Index say about hiring in India?

White collar hiring

• The drop in white-collar hiring was due to cautious behavior by sectors such as IT, insurance, auto, healthcare, and BPO.
• The number of job postings dropped from 2,828 in August 2022 to 2,666 in August 2023.
• Hiring was optimistic in non-IT sectors such as oil and gas, hospitality, and pharma.

Sector-wise growth

• The IT sector displayed positive signs and registered sequential hiring growth following a decline in the past few months.
• This is an indication of the white-collar job market in India returning to a healthy normal.
• New jobs created in the IT industry were 33% lower compared to the high base value in August 2022.
• The insurance, auto, healthcare, and BPO sectors also showcased cautious hiring sentiments.
  • There was a decline in new job creation by 19%, 14%, 12%, and 10%, respectively as compared to August 2022.
• Hiring in the oil and gas sector increased by 17% compared to August 2022.
• There was a 14% increase in new jobs in the hospitality sector.
• New jobs increased by 12% in the pharmaceutical sector
• There was an 8% increase in the number of jobs related to AI functions.
  • The steepest increase was seen in roles such as ML Engineers and full-stack AI scientists.
• The most sought-after candidates were those with more than 16 years of experience.

Vulnerability of White-Collar Jobs

• Since October 2022, more than 500,000 job cuts have been announced in white-collar firms across the world.
• Such firms are downsizing and firing middle management and bureaucracy.
• These companies are attempting to restructure their operations in order to adapt to the changing economic conditions.
• The trend of white-collar job losses is surprising as it was predicted that the digital age would lead to an increase in demand for digital skills which would create new white-collar jobs.
• Increasing automation of cognitive tasks through the adoption of AI technology could cause more disruption and unemployment in the white-collar sector.

Naukri JobSpeak Index

• The Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly Index that represents the state of the Indian job market and hiring activity in the country with July 2008 as the base month and an index value of 1000.
• It is a robust and reliable indicator of white-collar hiring in India that is based on new job listings and job-related searches conducted by recruiters on the resume database on Naukri.com, a job portal.
• It captures hiring activity across multiple dimensions such as industries, cities, functional areas, and levels of experience.
• The Index could be impacted by factors like internet penetration and Naukri's market share among job portal companies.
• However, it does not cover employment such as gig employment, hyperlocal hiring, or campus placement.

What are the different categories of employment in India?

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: With reference to the casual workers employed in India, consider the following statements:

1. All casual workers are entitled to Employees Provident Fund coverage.
2. All casual workers are entitled to regular working hours and overtime payment.
3. The government can by a notification specify that an establishment or industry shall pay wages only through its bank account.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3 only

Question: Disguised unemployment generally means

(a) a large number of people remain unemployed

(b) alternative employment is not available

(c) marginal productivity of labour is zero

(d) productivity of workers is low