India - Labour Market Update (June 2021)

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LinkedIn's Economic Graph is a digital representation of the global economy, and insights from the graph provide real-time information on trends that are emerging in the labour market. In this latest update, we see that hiring is around 42% above pre-COVID levels.

Hiring is around 42% above pre-COVID levels

There was a deepening hiring dip in April 2021, corresponding to a second wave of COVID-19 cases in India. Since then, it has been recovering steadily - compared to the pre-COVID levels in 2019, it was 35% higher at the end of May 2021, and 42% higher at the end of June 2021. This is possibly due to a release of pent up hiring (which accumulated in 2020 as companies took a more cautious stance towards hiring).

Hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. This analysis looks at the changes in hiring rate between this month and the same month in 2019. Note that larger fluctuations tend to be seen around large public holidays - this might factor into the hiring rate fluctuations seen in late December and early January.

**As we reach the one year anniversary of the national lockdown, the pure year-over-year metric is likely to spike due to the hiring decline in 2020. This may mislead audiences to believe that the economy is surging this year when in fact narratives are assuming comparison and recovery to pre-Covid “normal times”. To correct this, we have changed from a pure year-over-year % to year-over-year % change fixing 2019 as a baseline.

Competition for jobs is lower compared to 12 months ago, but applicants are applying more aggressively.

Last year, we saw the applications per job double in the middle of 2020 during the height of global lockdowns. Right now, it is going in the opposite direction - average applications per job is 0.6x compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, the applications per applicant has been slowly increasing and has reached 1.2x compared to last year. Taken together, this suggests that the supply of jobs has increased in the market, and also that workers are more actively seeking jobs. In this environment, professionals who upskill will likely have a wider spectrum of jobs available to them.

The average applications per job this month compared to one year ago - this reflects the competition for jobs in the country. The average applications per job applicant this month compared to one year ago - this signifies the number of open jobs applied to per applicant and reflects how aggressively applicants are applying for jobs in the country.?

Job seekers in badly-affected industries continue seeking opportunities in other industries

This analysis looks at how job seekers in different industries are adapting to changes and adjusting their jobs search strategy. The Hardware and Networking sector stays at the top of the list this month, but the rate has fallen from 2.9x last month to 2.5x this month. Over 75% of those workers who transitioned out of the Hardware & Networking industry, moved to the Software & IT sector in June 2021.?

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.?The red line indicates where there same likelihood to apply in a same or different sector.

Relative to their peers, young workers with hardware and software skills are more in-demand

Our data shows that between January 2018 to June 2021, the share of Gen Zs entering the workforce has increased by over 4.2 times. And when we take a closer look at the different levels of digital skills, we find that relative to others in their age group who only have basic or applied digital skills, Gen Z who have either software/hardware skills or disruptive digital skills are between 1.3 to 1.5 times more likely to be hired.

We looked at all hires between January 2018 to June 2021, and calculated the proportion of hires which fell into the Gen Z age group (born between 1997-2012) in order to determine the share of Gen Z hires across time. We also looked at the different types of digital skills that had been listed on their profiles to analyze skill trends.

Basic/Applied Digital Skills: Fundamental skills required to understand and use simple concepts and tools. This includes the ability to use enterprise technologies, platforms and solutions to improve job efficiency and performance. Examples of these skills include Microsoft Office and SAP Enterprise Tools.

Hardware and Software-related Skills: Skills that are required to build tools, platforms, and applications which can be easily used by those with Basic Digital Skills. Examples of these skills include Mobile Application Development and Software Testing.

Disruptive Digital Skills: These skills enable the invention and development of brand new disruptive technologies that will revolutionize the way we live and work. Examples of such skills include Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

With the rapid changes taking place in the economy, jobs are becoming increasingly digital, and it is necessary to have the right skills in order to remain relevant and competitive. More information on jobs and skills can be found in LinkedIn’s Career Explorer tool, which shows the skills that are required for different roles and the pathways between different jobs.

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