India’s workforce to see consistent hiring in 2023 despite economic uncertainties

Hiring activity has shown upward trajectory in 2022, creating a positive outlook for 2023. According to the Salary Guide 2023 report encapsulating job opportunity data shared by global recruitment specialists Michael Page India, white collar hiring in India recorded a substantial increase and the overall number of jobs rose by 23% in 2022 compared to 2021. This was led by job positions within Financial Services (up 49%) Indian employees likely to see bigger salary hikes in 2023; Tech companies to give 50-70% salary rise at job switch Technology (up 16%) and FMCG (up 42%).

A revival in sectors like Tourism (up 68%), and Property and Construction (up 28%) was also seen. The tourism industry is on the rebound path and has seen a positive intent of hiring, by the huge growth in the new jobs registered in 2022. The shift may be attributed to the resurgence of travel and thanks to flexible work policies offered by many companies Soft motivators like company culture, career progression and employee experience are the biggest talent attractors for the contingent workforce today.

Nicolas Dumoulin, Senior Managing Director of Michael Page (India and Thailand) observes, “2022 saw the most growth in terms of mid and senior level hiring. Reshuffling was happening a lot. Overall, the technology market saw a good rise but it was highly skewed in the first half of 2022. The market was very strong but has comparatively slowed down. At the end of the year the sector has seen a slowdown in hiring but we can attribute it to normalisation of the market mainly in the start-up firms. The overall economy has moved forward in 2022. Traditional industries have seen delayed revival in certain industries which has accelerated in 2022 contrary to some sectors like Healthcare and Technology which were already flourishing in 2021.

With the Indian economy poised to have the strongest GDP growth we continue to see hiring growing at a steady pace through 2023, the job market is also seeing a consistent uptick in hiring activity across key sectors and cities.

2022 saw the markets rebound across the region, showing a positive sentiment for future growth in the region. But for this progression to continue, establishing the right talent attraction and retention strategies will be critical.

“In the year 2023 ahead we acknowledge that there are several economic concerns globally. However, we remain optimistic about the Indian market. Indian talent has been increasingly difficult to secure over the last 24 months and we believe 2023 will provide opportunities to attract and retain the right talent’’, Nicolas Dumoulin further added.

India’s workforce outlook for 2023 showcases a high employee turnover rate despite unprecedented uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report showcases that while 38% of respondents in India have worked for less than two years in their current roles, 86% of respondents across every age group, industry, market and seniority level, plan to look for new career prospects. Top five reasons for planned resignations are to change career/role/industry, looking for career progression/promotion, unhappy with salary, unhappy with strategy/direction of company and company culture not being a fit.

Salary remains one of the key top motivators to influence candidates’ decisions on where to work. Companies should consider reviewing salaries and developing non-monetary strategies to improve talent retention with the overall year-on-year inflation rate at 7%. Main factors that influence candidates decision on where to work are – salary/bonus/rewards, company culture values, greater sense of purpose in role/company as well as leadership and company brand.