Is India's formal hiring stable as demand for remote work rises?

New Delhi, July 31 (NationPress) Job creation in India’s formal sector demonstrated stability in June, with a slight increase in job postings of 0.6 percent, following significant gains recorded in May, as indicated by a report released on Thursday.

Despite experiencing a 4.8 percent decline year-on-year, current job postings are still 80 percent higher than levels seen before the pandemic, highlighting the robustness of formal hiring activities, according to the Indeed Hiring Lab.

The report also notes that even though some employers are making attempts to return to traditional office environments, remote work continues to captivate job seekers.

In June, 8.7 percent of job postings featured phrases such as “work from home” or “hybrid work” in their descriptions. This figure marks an increase of 1 percentage point over the previous year but remains significantly below the peak of 11.3 percent observed in 2020.

The allure of remote work persists due to lengthy commutes in urban settings, enhanced access to urban or global job opportunities from rural areas, and advancements in digital infrastructure expedited by the global pandemic.

“Each month, the Indian workforce is gradually shifting towards more formal employment arrangements,” stated Callam Pickering, Indeed’s APAC Senior Economist.

As the country evolves, job creation in the formal sector is expected to outstrip overall employment growth nationwide—a trend consistently observed over recent years, Pickering added.

Job postings have seen an uptick across nearly all major occupational categories in the last three months.

The most substantial gains were noted in agriculture and forestry, which rose by 59 percent, followed by veterinary services (over 44 percent), therapy (36 percent), and beauty and wellness (34 percent), as reported.

A variety of occupations have recently experienced an increase in postings, signaling broad-based hiring strength throughout India.

The only sectors that saw a decline in job postings were community and social services and pharmacy roles, which fell by 8.5 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, over the past three months.

Other sectors with weaker performance include human resources (down over 2.6 percent), medical information (down over 4.2 percent), and project management (down over 5.2 percent).

While not among the stronger performers, opportunities in software development continue to grow, increasing by 7 percent over the past three months, the report revealed.

The report concludes that India’s labor market remains vast and intricate, with the formal sector mirroring the country's transition towards higher-productivity employment.