A Look at Hiring Trends and Recovery Pockets

The world has seen nothing like Covid-19, in the recent past, that has had both health and economic implications of this magnitude. However, though the virus  continues to affect the health of people the world over, the global economy is slowly and steadily showing signs of recovery.

Most sectors have embraced the new normal, and while some  are taking longer than others to get back on their feet, there are others that have turned this crisis into an opportunity. In fact, the growth witnessed in some industries is stupendous, and an example for others to follow. It is also reassuring when it comes to the employment scenario, an area that has been marked by hundreds of thousands of layoffs and pay cuts.

The pandemic has had far-reaching effects on different economies, although the impact varies from country to country. Yet, there’s no reason to worry, because some bright spots do exist.

Although GDP figures painted a gloomy picture especially in early 2020, things started to bounce back in June, when the monthly GDP rose by 8.7%. This was an effect of the easing of the lockdown.

Moreover, the services sector was initially hit, but as the restrictions eased across the country, people started to step out, and consumers began to spend again. In fact, statistics suggest that retail sales in the UK increased by 3.6% in July, and in August, it was even 7% higher than last year. However, it is important that the consumer confidence continues, for the sector to completely recover.

When the Lehman Brothers crisis hit the US in 2008, it was the healthcare sector that helped the economy recover. As per research, the sector had added 2.8 million jobs between 2006 and 2016, and , there has been a 20% growth in healthcare jobs since 2008, even though the average rate for the economy was only 3%.

The outlook looks promising even now. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, health care jobs are expected to grow at a rate of 18% from 2016 to 2026.

There’s another industry, an integral part of the US economy, that is likely to drive economic recovery and that’s technology. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, employment in the IT sector is likely to grow 11% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than other industries. Plus, with growing technologies, there is a need for workers equipped in skills like cloud computing, storage of big data, and much more.

There are some sectors in India that are shining brighter than the others. One of them is Edtech that has largely grown, because institutes and regular classes were put on hold during the lockdown. In the absence of regular schooling, online learning was the next best resort. Several platforms began to offer free classes, while some new ones cropped up to make education more informative and engaging.

Even before the pandemic hit India, a study had predicted that the online education market will grow to USD 18 billion by 2022. The future only looks brighter in the years to come, and one never knows this figure could easily be surpassed!

In the same way, there has been a surge in the use of meeting and video calling applications that are making it seamless for professionals to work from home. In fact, with social distancing being a norm, everything has gone virtual, and people are looking to engage even more on these platforms, so much so that this sector is witnessing a rise like never before!

According to GlobalData’s market opportunity forecasts, India’s video conferencing services market, which is estimated at $105 million as of 2019, is expected to witness substantial growth in the short to medium term, with businesses working from home.

As mentioned above, sectors like healthcare and education are going to see more jobs, even amid the spread of novel coronavirus. This has been further confirmed by staffing firm TeamLease, which works directly with over 3,500 companies.

There’s no denying that pay cuts and layoffs continue to happen, and companies are still downsizing, there’s a ray of hope when it comes to even e-commerce and packaged consumer goods. Of course, some sectors like airlines, hotels, tourism, and manufacturing will take much longer to get back to normal, and that means hardly any hiring for them, until they recover.

TeamLease conducted a survey and the results are promising. Almost 33% of the hiring managers surveyed from the healthcare and pharma sectors, showed signs of getting more people on board. A good 27% of the respondents in the edtech sector are also optimistic about hiring new employees, as remote learning has become a new norm. Even those who are a part of the FMCG sector are confident about hiring, as demand has risen in the post-Covid era.

In India, some of the leading brands like Dabur, Patanjali, Zandu have introduced products, especially in the health food segment. Specialty chemicals for cleansing and sanitation have also witnessed a rise, offering hope to prospective employees in the FMCG sector.

If there’s another area that is likely to see a boom in hiring, it is online commerce. And this behaviour is only going to become more pronounced in the times to come. According to a Forbes report, Covid-19 has accelerated online shopping growth easily by two to four years.

According to Teamlease, the intent to hire for e-commerce businesses and technology startups recovered from 19 per cent to 26 per cent between March and June 2020. E-commerce and tech startups were among the 10 leading sectors helping India to recover its hiring sentiment from 11% during the lockdown period to 18 per cent now.

The times have been particularly hard, but they say, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. These sectors are following the ‘survive and thrive’ principle and doing better than they ever have, thanks to their receptivity to technology and agility! It only gets better from here.