The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented disruption in the corporate world with mass lay-offs, hiring freeze and contraction of business. However, some industries have witnessed  a phenomenal growth during the pandemic during as per the study conducted by Board Infinity, a career exploration platform. The study was conducted online from the demand and supply side. The survey was undertaken amongst 2320 freshers and working professionals and amongst 235 startups, mid-large organisations and SMEs. According to the study, Media, IT, Finance and Pharmaceutical sectors saw a surge in hiring during Q2 FY 2020 while Automobiles and Logistics remained stagnant. 

The study also found 20 percent jump in hiring in Data science, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Marketing, SEO and Social Media positions compared to the first quarter of 2020. Another focus of the study was on internships, which has also been emphasised in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, wherein college students were increasingly opting for unpaid internship opportunities in order to remain relevant in the market and upskill.  

Board Infinity, which also provides online learning courses in various sectors like ML, AI, Data Science, Digital Marketing, etc. organised hackathons during this time, came to a conclusion that YoY the jobs have been particularly concentrated in the aforementioned segments. According to the company’s research there are job placements in various sectors – 28.3% in IT & Services, 14.3% in Media, 19.8% in E-Learning, 11.9% in Marketing & Advertising, 11.1% in Pharma, 7.9% in Civil & Social, 9.5% in Financial Services and the least of 1.6% in Automotive Industry.

With organisations resuming operations amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a slight rise in positive sentiment about business growth. This may lead to an encouraging trend in the hiring outlook for the rest of the year.

“Although the hiring has picked up pace, there has been a dramatic change in the process for many companies. Initially full time offers were the norm but in these testing times, they have started opting for an internship to PPO model for better conversions and long term association with the candidates.  Today we are seeing new-age companies finding hackathons, and virtual scalable hiring models as a better means to shortlist appropriate candidates in this unbalanced supply and demand market”, says Sumesh Nair, co-founder, Board Infinity.

Promoted in 2017, Board Infinity is a career exploration platform that creates a job-ready talent for employers with the help of industry professionals. To learn more, visit https://www.boardinfinity.com/.

Also read: How Covid-19 has impacted education & career choices of the youth