Telecom infrastructure and engineering companies in India hired aggressively as remote working fuelled the demand for voice and data services, reports LiveMint citing data from staffing firm TeamLease’s subsidiary TeamLease Digital. This is in sharp contrast to widespread layoffs and pay cuts across sectors amid the Covid-19 pandemic. TeamLease Digital added that as offices closed and employees worked from home, the demand for expansion and optimisation of network capacity increased. Since the beginning of the nationwide lockdown in late March, hiring of engineers and maintenance and repair executives rose by 18%-20% on the back of a 24%-28% jump in demand for mobile and internet services in residential areas of tier-two and tier-three cities. Hiring of engineers, riggers and forward repair team workers also surged as companies worked to provide seamless services to customers and ensure connectivity.