Monster Employment Index, the most reliable and comprehensive job analysis report by Monster.com, a Quess Company, has published its findings for April 2021, providing insights into the job market across industries, cities, and functions.
The growth of job postings has varied across job sectors, with some doing better and some yet to gain momentum year-on-year as of April 2021 compared to April 2020.
The data indicates that the employment index saw a decline in job posting activity in April 2021 compared to the previous month, March 2021, by 3%. Overall job postings have declined by 4% year-on-year as of April 2021, compared to April 2020. The job postings for entry-level roles have declined by 5% month-on-month (April 2021 vs. March 2021). The decline in postings is due to the onset of the second wave of the pandemic leading to lockdowns.
Despite the decline in overall job postings, some industries continue to hold strong in some specific cities. Advertising, Market Research, Public Relations (PR) in Chennai and Hyderabad noted more than 50% year-on-year growth (April 2021 vs. April 2020). Banking/ Financial Services, Insurance in Kolkata saw a 26% growth month on month (April 2021 vs. March 2021) despite the overall growth in job postings remaining neutral for the location.
Hiring activity in Bangalore (28%), Hyderabad (23%), and Chennai (16%) indicate strong growth in job postings compared to the previous year (April 2021 vs. April 2020). There has been significant growth in the top management (36%), senior-level (10%), and intermediate level (13%) hiring year-on-year as of April 2021 compared to April 2020. The YOY numbers are still positive given that April 2020 also had Covid impact in the base.
Job postings pick up in certain industries even with the Covid-19 impact
Every month the Shipping/Marine industry continues to witness a 2% increase in job postings month on month (April 2021 vs. March 2021). However, job postings in Media & Entertainment remained neutral as of April 2021 compared to March 2021. Industries that exhibited the highest decline in job postings compared to the previous month (April 2021 vs. March 2021) include Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/ Steel (-15%), Retail (-14%), FMCG, Food & Packaged Food (-12%) and Logistic, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation (-12%).
A year-on-year comparison of the data shows some industries are doing better in April 2021 compared to April 2020. Agro-based Industries (20%), Chemicals/ Plastic/ Rubber, Paints, Fertilizer/ Pesticides (19%), and Printing/ Packaging (17%) have shown a significant increase as of April 2021 compared to April 2020.
Industries such as Logistic, Courier/ Freight/ Transportation (15%), Telecom/ISP (14%), Shipping/Marine (7%), and IT- Hardware, Software (6%) have indicated year on year growth in job postings (April 2021 vs. April 2020). However, given the inevitable and continued impact of the pandemic over the past year, industries such as Travel and Tourism (-52%), Education (-34%), and Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/ Steel (-26%) continue to exhibit a steep decline in job postings as of April 2021 compared to the previous year (April 2021 vs. April 2020).
Promising uptick for job postings in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai; Baroda and Jaipur witness a decline in job postings
As of April 2021, job postings in Bangalore (1%), Hyderabad (3%), and Chennai (2%) have indicated a positive increase compared to last month (April 2021 vs. March 2021). Ahmedabad also witnessed a 1% month-on-month increase in job postings as of April 2021 compared to March 2021.
As a positive uptick in demand, Government/ PSU/ Defense marked 25% growth in job postings in Delhi/NCR on a month-on-month basis as of April 2021 (April 2021 vs. March 2021).
However, the overall situation is still grim for metros like Delhi (-1%) and Mumbai (-2%), which have witnessed a decline in postings during the same period. The cities of Baroda (-10%) and Jaipur (-5%) have been the most impacted in April 2021, compared to the previous month (April 2021 vs. March 2021).
Bangalore (28%), Hyderabad (23%), and Chennai (16%) indicate a significant increase in the number of job postings year-on-year (April 2021 vs. April 2020). These cities have witnessed monthly and yearly growth despite the pandemic. It is positive to note that job postings in cities such as Pune (15%), Kochi (5%), Delhi (2%), and Chandigarh (2%) are doing better in April 2021 as compared to last year (April 2021 vs. April 2020). However, the cities of Kolkata (-29%), Baroda (-22%), and Jaipur (-11%) have seen a considerable dip in job postings in April 2021 compared to the last year (April 2021 vs. April 2020).
Job postings for Software, Hardware, Telecom functions faring better in comparison to April 2020
Overall month-on-month growth in job postings for specific functions remains neutral or has declined as of April 2021 (April 2021 vs. March 2021). Job postings for functions such as Senior Management and Software, Hardware, Telecom remain neutral for April 2021 (April 2021 vs. March 2021). Job roles in Engineering /Production (-14%), Sales & Business Development (-9%), and Marketing & Communications (-8%) have witnessed a decline in job postings as of April 2021 compared to the previous month (April 2021 vs. March 2021).
With a year-on-year (April 2021 vs. April 2020) comparison, the functions of Software, Hardware, Telecom (17%) have witnessed significant growth in job postings. Arts/Creative function also saw a 3% growth compared to April 2020. However, the most impacted job functions compared to the previous year (April 2021 vs. April 2020) are Customer Service (-33%), Sales & Business Development (-21%), and Hospitality & Travel (-20%).
Job postings for intermediate to top management level roles indicate increase
As of April 2021, month-on-month growth in job postings is witnessed across most job levels (April 2021 vs. March 2021), except for entry-level jobs that saw a dip in demand by -5%. Top Management professionals (4%), Senior Management professionals (2%), Mid-Senior professionals (2%), and Intermediate roles (1%) witnessed positive month-on-month growth (April 2021 vs. March 2021).
April 2021 data shows that job postings for greater than 15 years’ experience have grown significantly by 36% compared to last year (April 2021 vs. April 2020). Those for Senior Management professionals (11-15 years), Mid-Senior professionals (7-10 years), and Intermediate roles (4 – 6 years) have witnessed an increase of 10%, 13%, and 4% as of April 2021 compared to April 2020. However, job postings for entry-level profiles (0-3 years) have declined by 11% year on year (April 2021 vs. April 2020).
Period for the report
The period considered for the MEI data is 1st to 30th April 2021.
Also read: Future of Jobs Report: How global hiring fared amid the pandemic