Corporate India’s hiring sentiment for the next three months is one of the highest across the world, with 37 per cent of employers planning to increase their staff strength amid buoyant domestic demand conditions, says a survey.
According to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey of nearly 3,100 employers across sectors and regions, the Net Employment Outlook (NEO) in India is the highest amongst 41 countries.
The outlook for January-March 2024, calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate reductions to staffing levels from those who plan to hire, stood at 37 per cent, up 5 per cent from the corresponding period of 2023, and same when compared with the last quarter.
”Domestic demand remains buoyant, and private investments continue to flow in making India a lucrative economy. With stability in the political arena, progressive India is not a dream but a reality,” Sandeep Gulati, Managing Director of ManpowerGroup India and Middle East, said.
Indian and Dutch net employment outlooks were the strongest at 37 percent, followed by Costa Rica and the US at 35 percent and Mexico at 34 percent respectively. Globally, 26 percent.
Consumer Goods and Services and Information Technology businesses reported the brightest outlook.
Consumer Goods and Services (42%) and Information Technology (44%) reported the strongest outlooks.
For the first quarter, Energy and Utilities had the least optimistic prospects (28%).
The western region of India dominated hiring intentions with 39 percent followed by the north (38%) and the eastern region with the weakest intentions.
In Japan, 85 percent of employers reported difficulty finding skilled talent, followed by Germany, Greece, and Israel (82%)
According to the survey, 81 percent of employers reported difficulty finding skilled talent in India.
”The survey is a reflection of the changing world of work where companies are in the transformational phase but IT talent with the desired skill sets are scarce,” Gulati said.
Employers offer more work flexibility to attract and recruit talent while raising wages to attract new talent.
The top five most in-demand skills are IT & Data, Sales & Marketing, Engineering, Operations & Logistics, and HR, it added.
”As organisations plan their strategic HR objectives for 2024, employee well-being, recruitment for skilled roles and adopting AI and technology seems to be the top 3 in the chart of priorities,” Gulati said, adding that training the staff to leverage AI and narrowing down on roles that can take advantage of this advancement continues to remain a concern.
