New job creation dropped by over 40 per cent in 2008-09, with 469 companies studied having recruited 1,35,987 employees during the year under review, compared to 2,28,968 in the 2007-08.
The banking sector, State Bank of India in particular, has come to the rescue, while software service companies are employing less numbers compared to the previous year. The latter sector was a major job creator in the past five years and is now facing a slowdown in business from BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sectors on account of the financial crisis abroad. Of 36 software services’ companies studied, hiring increased by 69,430 in 2008-09, compared to 103,118 in 2007-08.
The crash in stock prices after the liquidation of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 had hurt new employment in securities and commodities trading service firms, while the liquidity crunch saw construction companies pruning staff strength due to the slowing in demand for housing and commercial offices. Sectors such as automobiles, steel, textiles, hotels and media also pruned hiring due to the slowdown.
The HT tells us the good news :-)
Automobile firms, some of which clocked record sales in September mirroring strong consumer demand, appear to have recruited the most. A labour ministry survey showed the sector recruited 18,000 additional employees in April-June.
Information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO), sectors heavily dependent on overseas contracts, appear to be doing well. The survey showed that the “non-exporting” (companies that do not earn significant revenues from overseas clients) IT and BPO companies hired an additional 15,000 employees during the April-June quarter, the survey showed.
Recruitment agencies and headhunting firms confirmed that enquiries by prospective employers have started trickling in and many expect hiring to grow sharply after January.
“Leadership positions are opening up but jobs across the board will open up only by January to March as employers are cautious of over hiring,” Rajesh AR, vice president at Bangalore-based staffing firm TeamLease Services.
