Adapting to the new normal of remote and office work, cautiously optimistic corporates are now looking to hire more people and provide better appraisals in the new year, a report said.
The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as the biggest inflection point for the Indian job market. For the corporates, work-from-home and remote workers became the new normal and for the professionals, online learning and digital skills took centre stage.
In 2020, most companies gave their hiring plans a back seat amid uncertain economic outlook while industries like travel, hospitality, retail, aviation, real estate, construction and automobile were severely hit.
Nevertheless, there is a cautious optimism among corporates and it is getting reflected in their recruitment plans for the new year, Mint said in its report.
"Yes, the market is showing positive signs of recovery with almost all industries showing growth in hiring but with caution.
"Overall, the intent to hire recovered smartly from 11% during the lockdown period to 18% for HY (half year) and this number is growing," Deval Singh - Business Head, Mobilization (Hiring) at TeamLease Services.
Pay cuts have been reversed since Diwali in most organisations and bonuses were issued in few. Some technology companies even declared early appraisals; the report noted.
The latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, that covered 1,518 employers across the country, showed that corporate India is showing "healthy signs of recovery" and plans to hire more people in the first three months of 2021 compared to the quarter ending December.
With encouraging results of vaccine efficacies and the market largely back to how it was, there is a positive sign of recovery in the job market.
Experts believe there is no going back to the pre-COVID-19 world in its entirety and the digital transformation that changed the very fabric of the Indian workforce in 2020 is likely to accelerate further in 2021 and beyond.
