Eye Opening Report on Active White Collar Job Openings in India

• Total Active Jobs tumbled further with a 10% MoM drop in May 2023.
• Active job openings further dropped to 220K after dropping to 245K in April 2023.
• May is the 3rd month in a row when Active Jobs volume has dropped.
• The Tech Sector’s collective volume of Active Jobs registered an MoM 22% drop in May 2023.
• Tech Sector’s collective demand volume dipped to a record low of 76K.
• Tech Sector’s contribution to overall Active Jobs dropped 5% to close at a record low of 35%.
• Non-Tech sectors continued to be the major contributor to Active Jobs for the 8th month in a row.
• BFSI Sector active talent demand volume dropped by 9% MoM over April 2023.
• IT Services sector talent demand shrunk by 16% MoM to hit the lowest volume in 29 months.
• IT Services sector put out 58% lesser YoY openings as compared to the same period last year.
• May 2023 Active Jobs figures registered a significant 10% drop in comparison to April 2023. May is the third consecutive month of a drop in active talent demand.
• May 2023 closed with an Active Jobs count of 220K as against 245K clocked in April 2023.
• May’s closing figures are the lowest count in 2023. It is also the lowest count since September 2022, when 210K active jobs were recorded.
• Active job openings remain on a decline curve after seeing a strong 6-month run of positive growth up to February 2023.
• May 2023 figures have pulled the trajectory further away from the high volume of 310K seen in May 2022.
• May 2023 figures closed 33% lower on a YoY basis, against the record high of 310K recorded in May 2022. This is the record-highest negative YoY movement.
• With May 2023’s drop in volume, the 2023 monthly average active jobs drop to 2.62 Lakhs.

Active White-Collar Jobs – Since the Pandemic

• The BFSI sector’s active jobs volumes dropped by 9% in May 2023 after dropping 8% in April 2023.
• Other Non-tech sectors dropped by 2% compared to April 2023.
• The non-tech cohort comprising of BFSI & other non-tech sectors contributed 65% of Active Jobs in May 2023.

IT Hiring – Where is it headed?

• The IT Sector’s active hiring action has been in a tailspin for nearly 3 quarters now.
• The IT Sector collective continues its dip to reach record low demand levels. The current active talent demand from the IT Sector collective is the lowest seen over the last 3+ years.
• Amidst the Global macroeconomic slowdown and painfully slow-paced recovery of discretionary tech and non-tech spending, all cohorts of the IT Sector are playing cautious in their hiring plans and action.
• May 2023 figures were pulled down by rollbacks in demand across all cohorts of IT Services, Software Products and Internet-enabled Startups.
• The May 2023 active jobs data shows a 22% drop in hiring action from the IT Sector collective comprising of Tech Services, Products and Startups.
• After the record low figures in April 2023 (97K), the IT collective’s current count of 76K is the lowest active talent demand level since March 2020.
• The IT Sector’s May 2023 active jobs volume, closed at 76K as compared to 97K recorded in April 2023.
• On a YoY basis, the IT Sector’s active demand closed 67% lesser than in the same period last year (May 2022 — 228K).

IT Sector Collective Active Talent Demand – 12-Month Trend

• Further, the IT Sector’s contribution to overall active jobs dropped 5% to close at a record low of 35%.
• The previous recorded lowest contribution is the 40% recorded in April 2023.
• The sector had earlier registered an 82% dominating contribution a year ago in January 2022.

Active Talent Demand – By Job Type

• Full-time openings shrunk by 8% in May 2023, to drop to 212K. This is the lowest volume of Active Full-time openings recorded in the last 7 months.
• While internships marginally dropped, part-time opportunities dropped by 57% (on a low base value) and Contract openings shrunk by 60%.
• Full-time openings dropped by 32% on a YoY basis in May 2023. The count stood at 310K in May 2022.
• The overall contribution of full-time openings remained high at 96% of total active openings in May 2023. Full-time openings continued to receive a boost from the non-tech sector’s active openings.

Contribution of Full-time Opportunities to Total Active Jobs

Active Talent Demand – By Job Function

• Job openings by key functions registered a drop in volume from -17% to -6% in May 2023.
• Sales & BD openings shrunk by 6% over the volume as seen in April 2023.
• IT Function openings were reduced by 16% in May 2023, while Engineering openings shrunk by 17% in May 2023, after a 5% growth in April 2023.
• IT function dropped in contribution to a record low of 37% as compared to 40% and above in previous months.

Job Function-wise Contribution to Active Openings

Active Talent Demand – By Job Level

• Entry-level openings in May 2023 dropped by 17% in volume to close at 57K, as against 69K in April 2023.
• This is the lowest volume of entry-level openings over 6 months. While Mid-Junior level openings shrunk by 7%, and Mid-Senior level openings dropped volume by 3%.
• Senior Level remained flat over April 2023.

Jobs by Levels – 12-Month Trend

Active Talent Demand – By Industry

• IT Services and Software Service sectors registered drops in active jobs volume by 16% and 25% respectively. The internet-enabled services & startup sector dropped by 33% to close at 12K openings as compared to 18K in April 2023.
• The BFSI segment saw the 3rd drop in volume over 8 months, with a 9% MoM drop in active openings after an 8% drop seen in April 2023. The sector earlier had a streak of positive growth figures since September 2022.
• The IT Services sector volume dropped to reach 46K and closed 58% lower on a YoY basis compared to May 2022. The current demand volume from IT Services is its lowest level in 29 months.
• The IT Sector Collective of Services, Products and Tech Startups, put out 76K jobs in May 2023, as against 97K in April 2023. This is the lowest active jobs volume from the IT Sector Collective over the last 40 months. On an MoM basis, the IT Sector collective registered a 22% drop in volume over April 2023.
• The IT Sector’s contribution to overall Active openings dropped to a record low of 35%.
• This is the first time that the contribution has dropped below the 40% mark. The Sector had earlier held dominance with the 80%+ contribution it had maintained in 2021. With a 35% contribution to total active openings in May 2023, the Tech sector continued to lose its position as the primary hiring sector for white-collar openings.
• As seen over the last 3 quarters, the non-tech sectors continue to put out consistent active job volumes. The non-tech sector jobs contributed to 65% of the overall Active Jobs in May 2023 as compared to 60% in March 2023.
• Sectors like BFSI, Consulting & Professional Services, Education, Media & Advertising, Manufacturing, Health & Wellness, Infrastructure, Telecom etc. continue to put out active openings and make up for the drop in numbers from the Tech Sector. Other sectors like Retail, Goods & Logistics, BPO & Consumer Services and Automotives continue to contribute by adding more active openings.

Contribution of the IT Sector to Active Jobs

Active Talent Demand – By Location

• Hiring action continues to be centred around the megacities with 66% of openings being put out from Top Megacities. The Megacities put out over 145K Active openings as against 166K in April 2023 and registered a 13% MoM drop in volume.
• Active openings in Ahmedabad and Surat dropped the most by 25% and 42% respectively.
• Bengaluru registered a 14% drop while Delhi NCR dropped by 16%. Hyderabad and
• Mumbai shrunk by 8% and 7% respectively.
• Kolkata was the only exception remaining flat in active demand volume.

Active Talent Demand – By Engagement Format

• Full-time Remote Openings closed at 12K in May 2023 as against 14K in April 2023.
• Full-time Hybrid openings shrunk to 30K, as against 40K in April 2023.
• Remote & Hybrid Mode Opportunities contribution to overall openings dropped to 19% in May 2023 as against 22% in April 2023.
• The collective total of 42000 Remote & Hybrid openings is a 21% YoY drop over May 2022 volume.

Full-time Remote & Full-time Hybrid Openings Trend

“The tech sector is experiencing an extended bad weather that has dropped active talent demand to record low levels. A 67% YoY drop in tech sector’s active talent demand is unprecedented and has further diminished IT’s position as a key talent consuming sector.

Low demand volumes clubbed with drop in velocity of hiring will have long-term impact on the tech talent ecosystem. With discretionary enterprise spending under pressure, non-tech sectors will also be readjusting their trajectories soon. However the current low action levels are not sustainable, especially for the Tech Sector, and a recovery curve should be on the cards soon.”

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Jayaditya Chakrabarty

An android fan who is often found playing Counter-Strike in his free time, wannabe photographer, Engineering Graduate!