India’s white-collar employment market recorded 330,000 active job openings in May, the highest count in the last 30 months, reports The Economic Times, citing data collated from LinkedIn, recruitment firms and job boards . The number of vacancies accepting applications in May was 61% higher from a year earlier and 8% more than last month’s 305,000, showed the data put together by specialist staffing firm Xpheno. Pre-Covid, the monthly average number of vacancies was around 230,000. This rise in employment opportunities was driven by opening up of sectors such as hospitality & tourism, manufacturing, healthcare, automotive, oil & energy, media & advertising and telecom, which collectively put out double the number of openings compared with April. Other sectors like education, pharma, logistics & supply chain are also adding more openings.

The growth in employment opportunities in May comes despite an 11% drop in contribution from the tech sector – comprising IT services, products and Internet-enabled sectors - that usually drives the white-collar market. Meanwhile, economists and job market experts said the growth in the number of jobs is an indication that high inflation and the impact of the Ukraine-Russia war on rising input cost have not deterred companies from preparing for future growth as the economy comes out of the pandemic-related business restrictions. The top five metros, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata, put out more than 190,000 active openings and registered growth of 103% over the same period last year.