Online recruitment in India edged up by 6% in March 2022 compared to March 2021, according to the latest Monster Employment Index.

Despite the slower pace of monthly growth compared to the 10% annual growth in March, the Index remained positive from an annual perspective as recruitment activity continued across a broad range of sectors.

Month-on-month, the Index registered a decline of 2%.

Meanwhile, 21 of the 27 industry sectors monitored by the Index registered expansion in recruitment activity between March 2021 and March 2022.

The Banking Financial Services and Insurance sector (37%) continued to lead the long-term growth over the year. The sector has been charting progressive increase in demand annually since November 2021.

On the other hand, Engineering, Cement, Construction, Iron/ Steel (-20%) industry witnessed continued year-on-year decline in the series since April 2020, registering the sharpest deceleration among sectors.

Online job opportunities expanded in 7 out of 13 functional areas monitored by the Monster Employment Index.

Finance and Accounts (30%) saw the most substantial annual gains in the month of March 2022.

Online demand for Sales and Business Development (-5%), Purchase/ Logistics/ Supply Chain (-6%) and Customer Service (-10%) professionals eased below the corresponding year-ago level with the marginal decrease this month.

Online recruitment activity exceeded the year-ago level in 11 of the 13 locations monitored by the index.

All metros registered a double-digit growth on an annual basis. Mumbai (21%) led all the monitored cities for the first time on yearly basis followed by Coimbatore (20%) and Chennai (16%) and Hyderabad (16%).

By experience level, demand for entry-level job seekers with experience of 0-3 years increased by 8%. Hiring for Intermediate level roles with an experience of 4-6 years grew by 20% while mid-senior level roles with 7-10 years of experience also saw an upsurge of 22%.

Hiring for senior level roles with 11-15 years of experience increased by 13%. Monster also noted that leadership roles with experience of 16+ year exhibited steepest growth of 34% among all experience levels.

The Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly and quarterly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by Monster India.