Online recruitment in India reported a 5% annual decrease in January 2023, according to the latest foundit Insights Tracker.

The foundit hiring index lowered from 277 in January 2023 to 262 in January 2024.

On a monthly basis, online hiring increased by 3% in December 2023.

The tracker registered a 5% increase over the last three months.

According to the tracker, 14 of the 27 industry sectors monitored registered expansion in recruitment activity between January 2023 and January 2024.

Travel & tourism led growth among industries (21%), along with automation (21%), retail (20%) and advertising, marketing relations and public relations (18%).

On the other hand, the telecom industry reported a 10% decline over the year, along with IT – hardware, software (-10%).

Online demand exceeded the year-ago level in 4 out of 13 functional areas monitored by the tracker. By job function, hospitality & travel (24%), healthcare (7%), and marketing & communications (6%) saw the highest annual growth.

The customer service job function saw the steepest decline (25%). This was followed by sales & business development (-10%) and finance (-10%).

Meanwhile, online recruitment activity exceeded the year-ago level in 8 of the 13 cities monitored by the tracker. On an annual basis, Kolkata saw the highest increase of 22% over the year with Jaipur coming in second at 11%. Chandigarh saw the steepest year-on-year decline in January (-30%).

The demand for entry-level job seekers fell by 5.8% on an annual basis. Hiring for associate roles with an experience of 4-6 years reported a decrease of 23.3% on an annual basis. Hiring witnessed a dip of 21% for mid-senior level roles with 7-10 years of experience.

At the same time, senior-level roles with 11-15 years saw a dip of 14.6% in hiring demand. For workers with more than 16+ years, demand saw a fall of 22.9%.