India Inc anticipates rise in payrolls in next 3 mths

Indian employers report encouraging signs for job seekers in the next three months. With 12 per cent of employers anticipating an increase in payrolls, 2 per cent forecasting a decrease and 53 per cent expecting no change, the resulting Net Employment Outlook is 10 per cent.

Participating employers are categorized into one of three organization sizes: Small businesses have 10-49 employees; Medium businesses have 50-249 employees; and Large businesses have 250 or more employees.

Workforce gains are forecast for all three organization size categories during the coming quarter. The strongest hiring prospects are reported by large employers with a Net Employment Outlook of 10 per cent, while Outlooks stand at 8 per cent and 6 per cent for Medium and Small-size employers, respectively.

Employers in all four regions expect to increase payrolls during the coming quarter. The strongest hiring prospects are reported in the West, where the Net Employment Outlook is 10 per cent. Elsewhere, employers inthe North forecast some hiring opportunities with an Outlook of 8 per cent, while Outlooks stand at 7 per cent and 4 per cent in the South and East, respectively.

Workforce gains are expected in all seven industry sectors during the April to June period. The strongest labour market is anticipated in the Public Administration & Education sector, where the Net Employment Outlook stands at 10 per cent. Services sector employers report a cautiously optimistic Outlook of 9 per cent, and Outlooks stand at 6 per cent in three sectors – the finance, insurance & real estate sector, the manufacturing sector and the transportation & utilities sector. Elsewhere, mining & construction sector employers anticipate a modest hiring pace with an outlook of 5 per cent, while the weakest labour market is expected in the wholesale & retail trade sector where the outlook is 2 per cent.

The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers' intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforces during the next quarter.

Remote work and virtual meetings are likely to continue, albeit less intensely than at the pandemic's peak.

Perhaps the most obvious impact of the Covid-19 on the labour force is the dramatic increase in employees working remotely. To determine how extensively remote work might persist after the pandemic, we analyzed its potential across more than 2,000 tasks used in some 800 occupations in the eight focus countries. Considering only remote work that can be done without a loss of productivity, we find that about 20 to 25 per cent of the workforces in advanced economies could work from home between three and five days a week.

This represents four to five times more remote work than before the pandemic and could prompt a large change in the geography of work, as individuals and companies shift out of large cities into suburbs and small cities.