Premium on work from home

Geetu Vaid

The year 2017 was not a robust year for those looking for jobs as the news of downsizing by major companies kept on pouring all through the year. Almost all the sectors right from IT to banking to healthcare to aviation to automotive to oil and petroleum faced the heat. IT sector remained the worst affected with almost all big companies laying off staff due to slow growth, stricter outsourcing norms by USA as well as due to the introduction of advanced technologies that rendered several job roles redundant. The top seven IT seven companies—Infosys Ltd, Wipro Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. and DXC Technology Co., and France-based Cap Gemini SA—and which together employ 1.24 million people, downsized by almost 4.5 per cent , besides cutting down heavily on the campus placements in 2017. 

The sunshine banking sector, too, lost some of its sheen for job seekers with big players reducing their staff in 2017. By March HDFC had reduced its staff by almost 7 per cent in a measure to reduce costs and enhance productivity. At SBI, too, there were talks of a 10 per cent reduction in the next two years. Besides the layoffs the new hiring in several companies also remained muted in 2017. However, on the other end of the spectrum those looking for jobs in 2017 revealed a change in preferences. In its Year in Job Search report for 2017 job site Indeed revealed fascinating insights into what job seekers in India searched for this year.  “Job seeking patterns carry a wealth of insights that cast light on broader social trends”, said  Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Indeed India while commenting on job trends in 2017. Some of the key trends witnessed this year include: 

1. Search for 'Work from Home' jobs saw an increase of 111%: The study findings suggest that the Indian labour market is smitten by the gig economy with job seekers increasingly looking for 'Work from Home' job opportunities. With companies offering competitive salaries and generous perks along with great flexibilities, employees are increasingly exploring flexible career opportunities that allow time for growth in personal capabilities.
2. Growth in Ayurveda trumps the pharma sector with respect to job searches: With the Ministry of AYUSH stressing alternative medicine and encouraging preventive healthcare practices, India witnessed an impressive track record. Job search for Ayurveda saw a growth rate of 56% in 2017.  However, the pharma sector, surprisingly saw a huge dip in searches, a 40% decrease in people seeking jobs in the segment. This could also be indicative of the impact of a larger social trend of Indians looking at adopting alternative/natural healing methods.
3. Machine learning, Data scientist and Data analytics jobs are popular searches: Global technology disruptions coupled with the Indian government's aggressive focus on digital has seen its impact on the local labour market. With more companies in India wanting to increase their digital presence, there is a visible surge in job searches for digital marketing jobs with core technology opportunities in the domains of Machine learning, Data scientist and Data analytics being the hot favorites.
4. Government job searches boost despite a surge in Tech opportunities: While globally tech jobs are the most sought after, in India job seekers are inclining towards public sector jobs. The thrust of 'Make in India ' and other progressive initiatives put forward by the Central Government has led to an increasing amount of interest in government jobs rather than technology companies.

What Indian job market witnessed in 2017 in terms of preferences by job seekers across the country:

Job seekers put flexibility at a premium as “work from home” jumped popularity. Advanced tech skills and government work also appealed to many. 

Rising stars of search

Term               Growth rate

Remote/Work (111%)
from home
Digital marketing (80%)
Government jobs (60%)
Tech (98%)
Ayurveda (56%)

Not so hot

While the government’s promotion of Ayurveda medicine coincided with a jump in searches for the holistic system, pharmaceuticals dropped by 40%