Indian employers cautious on hiring

Employers in the country seem to be embracing a cautious approach in hiring activities as economic uncertainties and inflationary pressure continue to weigh on their sentiment, says a survey.

Indicating that recruitment activities have moderated, employment portal Naukri.com's job speak index remained almost flat last month compared to April.

The index -- a monthly gauge of hiring trends online -- stood at 1,194 in May as against 1,193 in April.

"Concerns of a global economic crunch and rising inflationary pressures are acting as a caution sign for India Inc," Info Edge India managing director and CEO Hitesh Oberoi said.

"Therefore, recruiters of some sectors are on a wait and watch mode. This does not mean that companies have frozen hiring, but they are certainly not going overboard," he said in a statement

on Tuesday.

Info Edge owns the web portal naukri.com.

In May, IT-software and ITES sectors -- the largest job creators in the country -- witnessed a marginal dip in hiring levels on a monthly basis.

"Construction, BPO and telecom sectors have been staggering with low hiring figures for the last few months and have seen dips within the range of 4 per cent and 9 per cent in May 2012 when compared to April 2012," the statement said.

On the other hand, hiring activities were positive in May for auto, oil & gas and banking sectors.

The job index is about 10 per cent higher this May compared to the same period a year ago.

All the top cities, excluding Chennai and Mumbai, saw fall in recruitment activities in the range of 2-4 per cent in May compared to April, Naukri.com said.

Chennai and Mumbai witnessed 9 per cent and 3 per cent rise in hiring activities last month, respectively.