According to the Economic Times, hiring activities have reached or are nearing pre-Covid levels in sectors such as manufacturing, industrial, retail, travel, hospitality and tourism. There is a confident outlook as business activities increases across these sectors and hiring sentiment continues to be strong in technology, digital and startups, which drove the job market during the pandemic.

Executives at recruitment and executive search firms ABC Consultants, EMA Partners, Transearch, TeamLease, CIEL and Kelly are indicating that hiring is showing traction not only in new-age technology sectors, but also across others where it had slowed down during the pandemic. Along with IT, edtech and fintech, sectors like manufacturing and auto, led by electric vehicles, are fueling the job market, said BN Thammaiah, managing director at Kelly Services India. The highest demand is from the tech and startup sectors, “but now there is also a lot of demand in sectors like auto, power (solar) and financial services. Hospitality has also picked up," said Shiv Agrawal, managing director of ABC Consultants.

According to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for April-June 2022, IT and technology sector employers reported the strongest hiring intentions with a net employment outlook of 51%, followed by the restaurants and hotels sector, and education, health, social work and government sectors with outlook of 38% and 37%, respectively.

EMA Partners India and Transearch India said companies across all sectors were extremely bullish on hiring senior talent. "All industries are hiring in tandem and, given the positive investment cycle, we expect the momentum to continue," said Atul Vohra, managing partner, Transearch India. With many startups planning IPOs, given the continued political stability, and industrial and manufacturing companies coming up with both green field and brownfield expansions, recruitment and search firms are optimistic. "We expect an uptick in hiring across most sectors," said A Ramachandran, senior partner, EMA Partners.

Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder, TeamLease Services, is also seeing an increase in demand for talent across all sectors. Hiring should pick up from April onwards, she said.

"While IT and ITeS will see a near doubling in the next five years or so, it is the other industries like manufacturing, retail, hospitality which are seeing increased investments that will add new jobs in the coming decade, mostly in frontline and mid-management roles," said Lohit Bhatia, president - Workforce Management at staffing services company Quess.

Another factor boosting hiring sentiment is the recently announced election results. "A clear majority in our democratic system of governance is a huge plus for the business community, thus reducing the uncertainties in the policy framework and the governance processes," said Aditya Misra, CEO - CIEL HR Services.