Hiring activity in India fell by 19% in January 2021 when compared to the same period last year, according to the latest Naukri JobSpeak Index.

The Index covers hiring trends in India based on listing on the Naukri.com job board. At an overall level, the Naukri JobSpeak Index for Jan 2021, stood at 1,925.

Despite the fall in year-on-year hiring in January, the Index noted mostly flat (-2%) hiring activity when compared to December 2020.

On a year-on-year basis, the Pharma/Biotech (-9%) and IT-Software (-11%) sectors were least impacted while the Hospitality/Travel sector continued to be the most impacted with a 61% decline in hiring in January 2021 versus January 2020.

Other key industries such as BPO/ITES (Business Process Outsourcing/IT enabled services) fell by -18%, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) fell by -29% and Insurance (-23%) also contributed to the overall decline in the hiring trend in January 2021 versus last year.

Cities like Bengaluru (-14%), Chennai (-13%), Hyderabad (-11%) and Pune (-12%), were less impacted due to the growing demand for IT professionals given the high penetration of IT and Internet-base startups in the southern markets.

Metros such as Mumbai (-35%) and Delhi (-21%) saw a sharper decline in hiring activity in January 2021 as compared to the same time last year. Hiring in Tier-2 cities such as Jaipur (-3%) and Chandigarh (-5%) witnessed the least decline at a year-on-year level.

While the entry-level experience band (0 to 3 years’ experience) witnessed the sharpest decline of 26% in hiring activity, the 13+ years’ experience band saw the least decline of 9% in January 2021 versus Jan 2020.