India's formal hiring remains stable as demand for remote work rises: Report

New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Job creation across India’s formal sector remained stable in June, with job postings rising modestly by 0.6 per cent, building on strong gains in May, a report said on Thursday.

Despite a 4.8 per cent decline year-on-year, job postings are still 80 per cent above pre-pandemic levels, underscoring the resilience of formal hiring activity, Indeed Hiring Lab said in a report.

According to the report, despite efforts by some employers to return to office routines, remote work continues to attract job seeker interest.

In June, 8.7 per cent of job postings included keywords like “work from home” or ‘hybrid work’ in their job descriptions.

This has increased by 1 percentage point over the past year but remains well below its peak of 11.3 per cent in 2020, the report stated.

Remote work remains appealing due to long commutes in urban areas, increased access to urban or global jobs from rural regions, and improved digital infrastructure, which was fast-tracked by the global pandemic.

“Every month, the Indian workforce gradually transitions towards more formal work arrangements,” said Callam Pickering, Indeed’s APAC Senior Economist.

As the nation transitions, job creation across the formal sector will outpace overall employment growth nationwide, a trend we’ve consistently seen over the past few years, he added.

Job postings rose in nearly all major occupational categories over the past three months.

"Gains were largest in agriculture and forestry, up 59 per cent, followed by veterinary (over 44 per cent), therapy (36 per cent), and beauty and wellness (34 per cent)," the report stated.

Postings across a wide variety of occupations have increased recently, pointing towards broad-based hiring strength throughout India.

The only two sectors where job postings fell were community and social services and pharmacy roles, down 8.5 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively, over the past three months.

Other weaker performers include human resources (over 2.6 per cent), medical information (over 4.2 per cent), and project management (over 5.2 per cent).

Although not one of the stronger performers, software development opportunities continue to grow, up 7 per cent over the past three months, the report stated.

As per the report, India’s labour market remains large and complex, and the formal sector continues to reflect the country’s shift toward higher-productivity employment.

--IANS

aps/na