India Inc to seek 3.9 mn jobs in first half of 2024: Report

Bengaluru : Demand for frontline workers continues to remain strong in India at 3.9 mn jobs in H1FY24 despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, according to a report on Tuesday.

The year-end insights report by SaaS and frontline workforce management platform BetterPlace, which analysed over a million data points, showed that logistics and mobility industries continue to fuel the demand contributing more than 50 per cent to the overall requirement.

E-commerce and IFM and IT were the second and third highest contributors to the overall demand at 27 per cent and 13.7 per cent, respectively. Sectors which contributed least to the overall demand included BFSI at 0.87 per cent and retail and QSR at 1.96 per cent.

The report further showed that IFM and IT experienced the most significant decline in attrition rates, plummeting by 20.9 per cent between H1FY23 and H1FY24.

This was largely because IFM and IT contributed to the third highest demand for frontline workers, offering higher salaries which led to higher attrition among workers who were looking for a better paying opportunity in H1FY23.

Logistics and mobility also saw the second highest drop in attrition at 12.9 per cent largely because salaries in this sector stabilised while the demand continues to be high. On the other hand, BFSI saw the highest attrition rate between H1FY23 and H1FY24, rising by 28 per cent, followed closely by retail and QSR at 19.3 per cent.

This can be attributed to the churn the BFSI sector is experiencing due to dynamic regulatory environment and the direct impact of inflation on the retail sector, the report said.

"The trend of variabilisation of work that we predicted is becoming stronger by the day. Our workforce trends indicate a gradual shift away from traditional sectors towards gig-sectors. Notably, sectors like IFM and IT and logistics and mobility have undergone a significant transformation; previously marked by high attrition, there seems to be a normalisation with fewer individuals leaving their gig jobs due to increased earning potential," BetterPlace Co-founder and Group CEO d Pravin Agarwala said in a statement.

IFM and IT recorded the highest decrease in salaries, experiencing a decline of 20.3 per cent between H1FY23 and H1FY24. Manufacturing saw the highest spike in salaries, increasing by 19.6 per cent from Rs 18,800 in H1FY23 to Rs 22,500 in H1FY24.

This is largely a result of high growth in the manufacturing sector driven by government initiatives, the report said. Retail and QSR also saw the second highest spike in salaries, growing by 15 per cent between H1FY23 and H1FY24. This can be attributed to the high levels of attrition that is being seen in the sector.

"An encouraging observation is the surge in demand and salaries for manufacturing jobs, underscoring the promising outlook for India's economy despite global macroeconomic challenges. The future of work in India appears very promising and is expected to evolve further in the coming years. To be well-prepared, both employers and employees should quickly adopt technology and platforms to not only become dynamic in their processes, but also seamlessly achieve scale," Agarwala said.