The employment outlook in India has dropped by 3 percent for the October to March 2018-19 period. According to the Employment Outlook Report by staffing firm TeamLease Services, while India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has been on the rise, it has failed to enthuse the job market for the forthcoming half year. However, India fares the best compared to other markets.

This biannual report provides an overview of the hiring and job growth sentiments for the period October 2018-March 2019. The report forecasts a net employment outlook of 92 percent in H2FY19 compared to 95 percent in H1FY19.

For the current half year, for which the employment outlook is being reported in this edition, 94 percent responded positively (hiring would increase from the previous half-year), 2 percent responded negatively (hiring would decrease from the previous half-year) and 4 percent responded saying there would not be any change in the volume of hiring from the previous half year. The Net Employment Outlook, therefore, is 92 percent.

Rituparna Chakraborty, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, TeamLease Services, said, “Despite the growing GDP there has been a slight dip in the employment outlook in the next half year. However, sectors such as power and energy and financial services which have shown a surge in the employment outlook are a relief.”

Chakraborty added that the hiring of fresh graduates across sectors and cities is likely to be nearly 16.3 percent of all net new jobs created during the April-September 2018-19 half year.

Across hierarchy mid-level hiring increases by 3 percent while there is a drop in entry level hiring (by 5 percent), junior level (by 3 percent) and senior level (by 4 percent). Moreover, medium-sized businesses will bear the brunt of the prevailing sentiment with a 3 percent drop while small and large businesses report a 1 percent increase in sentiment, each.

The report has surveyed 750 employers and 2500 employees of small, medium and large companies across 19 sectors and 14 cities to understand the hiring sentiments in the country.

The report also surveyed 75 employers across the globe, to analyse the global trends for employment outlook. According to which a 2-3 percent drop was seen in all global markets (except in Europe) in terms of the Net Employment Outlook. Asia- Pacific retains the top spot with the most positive Net Employment Outlook at 59 percent despite a 3 percent drop.

Europe that was considered a laggard in the previous half has held its outlook at 39 percent while Africa at 40 percent and Middle-east at 54 percent after a reported 3 percent drop in outlook, each. The Americas reported a 2 percent drop in their net outlook making the current figure at 42 percent.

However, India has gained a bigger lead, for this HY, over global markets in terms of the percentage of employers (94 percent) who report a possible increase in their hiring volume. In India, the power and energy sector will be the biggest gainer with 4 percent increase in the hiring sentiments, over the past half-year, across the employers surveyed.

According to the report, power and energy sector will add 33,100 new jobs, financial services will add another 44,650 new jobs and media & entertainment will add 46,300 new jobs in H2FY19. For the cities surveyed in the report Mumbai will add the highest number of jobs following by Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.