Indian job market rebounds in March; Tourism, IT, e-com drive growth

The Indian job market has witnessed a strong recovery in March, growing by 18.4% year-on-year as the economy returned to normalcy. Despite all the odds, the pandemic sparked rapid technology adoption and digital evolution, helping brands achieve some level of digital maturity. All that is paying off now and companies, especially in the tourism, IT/ITeS, energy and e-commerce sectors have stepped up their hiring activities.

As the job market has seen recovery, the Travel and Hospitality sector, which was the worst affected due to Covid-induced lockdowns over the last two years, has witnessed a robust recovery with a 47.6% growth in payroll headcount in the month, according to per payroll distribution data collated by Allsec Technologies, a Quess Corp company that track the employment trends across various sectors. 

Employees across sectors are also ramping up tech capabilities, indicating the industries are transforming to be more tech-oriented. Even traditional industries, which came to a halt last year in terms of hiring, are looking better. 

The overall movement from the previous year has been positive, with several industries showing profound progress in growing headcount. The Travel & Hospitality industry has reflected immense progress with the highest growth in payroll headcount at 47.6% this March as compared to last year. Considering the pandemic strain on this industry, it is encouraging to see this growth in contrast to the 48.7% decline the previous year.  

The energy sector followed close behind with a 41.5% yearly increase in headcount this year and has notably surpassed pre-pandemic levels with a 42% growth. Likewise, the e-commerce (41.8%) industry has undoubtedly witnessed transformative growth in light of lockdowns and curbs on retail outlets over the several waves of the pandemic.  

Riding heavily on digital trends, the IT/ITes industry has performed considerably well with a 27% uptick in March 2022 accompanied by logistics which saw a 27.3% growth. Industries such as Financials (16.6%) and food & beverage (12.9%) also showed an optimistic year-on-year trends.

While most sectors have recovered from the pandemic, constructions/facility management (-27.8%) saw the highest dip, followed by wholesale/retail rraders (-23.9%) and healthcare (-9.4%). 

“On the whole, we have seen an optimistic recovery pattern across industries this month. It is heartening to see Travel & Hospitality lead the way, along with several other industries which were severely impacted by the pandemic,” Ashish Johri, CEO, Allsec Technologies - a Quess Company, said on the findings.  

“We are confident of seeing a positive trend in the months to come, keeping in mind the government’s push for job creation across sectors as seen in the Budget and the economic revival of the country,” he added.