India hiring trends: LinkedIn survey suggests recovery with 30% YoY rise in September

Professional networking site LinkedIn said there has been a 30 percent year-on-year (YoY) recovery in hiring in September 2020.

LinkedIn’s Labour Market Update suggests hiring was at a low of -50 percent YoY in April 2020. The Labour Market Update is a monthly update on hiring trends and insights based on LinkedIn's Economic Graph which, a digital representation of the Indian economy built by conducting a close analysis of actions of over 71 million members in India.

Findings from the latest edition indicate that hiring continues to improve, competition for jobs is easing, and the digital divide is narrowing, suggesting a recovery in hiring for the non-technology sectors.

The data showed that earlier in the year, in late July, it started picking up to reach 12 percent in August and 30 percent YoY at the end of September. Hiring in September was 18 percentage points higher as compared to August 2020.

This analysis looks at the year-on-year changes in the hiring rate, which is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership.

Competition for jobs is lower compared to several months ago

The data showed the competition for jobs remains the same as August 2020, at 30 percent higher as compared to last year. However, after nearly doubling in the middle of 2020, the applications per job dropped down 1.3x in August and stayed at a similar level in September.

This analysis looks at the average applications per job this month compared to one year ago - this reflects the competition for jobs in the country

Compared to pre-coronavirus, the LinkedIn data showed that job seekers who are currently in the badly-affected sectors (such as recreation & travel) are 4.2 times more likely to look for jobs in a different sector. But this stress has abated from June 2020, where the likelihood was as high as 6.8 times. Similarly, the stress for the retail sector has reduced from 2.4 times to 1.1 times. There is not much change in the other sectors.

Note: This analysis looks at how job seekers in different industries are adapting to changes and adjusting their jobs search strategy. The measure here calculates the likelihood that a member in a certain sector has applied for a job in a sector different to their own.

Overall, the data showed the digital skill gap has narrowed. Earlier this year during the height of COVID-19 lockdowns, those without digital skills were more affected by the hiring dips compared to those with disruptive digital skills (such as AI and Robotics).