The staffing industry added 2.27 lakh formal workforce in FY22, Indian Staffing Federation (ISF) said on Tuesday, and underscored that the new additions are almost 22 percent more than the year before period.
ISF, which is the apex industry body of the flexi staffing companies, also projected that some of the sectors including fintech, IT and IT-Infra will continue to do well in FY23.
“In FY2022, Indian Staffing Federation member-companies collectively added 2.27 lakh new formal workforce. In the same period, ISF member companies collectively provided employment to 1.26 million flexi workforce,” ISF said on July 12 in its annual report.
The net new employment for general staffing grew at 21 percent, adding 1.57 lakh new formal workforce. General staffing comprises employment of flexi staffing across sectors and roles except IT and professional services.
It said sectors like FMCG, e-commerce, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, logistics, banking, and energy are driving general staffing demand.
Demand for new employees doubled in the IT staffing industry, with a sharp jump of 30.7 percent in FY2022 as compared with 14.1 percent in FY2021. The demand for the IT workforce was driven primarily due to the digital adoption across sectors.
“FY2023 trends show that Fintech, IT-Infra, IT/ITeS are promising impact sectors that are expected to continue with the (flexi) staffing demand,” ISF added.
ISF is a federation of flexi staffing firms like TeamLease, Quess Corp, CIEL HR, ManpowerGroup, Genius Consultants, Randstad, and Xpheno among others.
Overall, there was a 21.9 percent growth in new worker additions in FY22, sharply exceeding the workforce demand in the pre-pandemic years. FY2022 was exceptional for the flexi staffing industry, said Lohit Bhatia, president of ISF.
“The sharp comeback of workforce demand, growing to 21.9 percent, is a clear indication that both employers and employees are working hard to put the impact of the pandemic in the past and are looking forward to building the future.
"There is a renewed confidence in India’s economic growth with the rate of workforce demand exceeding that of pre-pandemic years. Even as the inflationary fears and geopolitical tensions loom large, the early indicators for FY2023 and the industry’s preparations for the festive season show that hiring is expected to remain elevated over the next three quarters,” Bhatia claimed.
Talking about female participation in the workforce, ISF said “women’s participation in flexi workforce continued at 27% in FY2022, the same as FY2021."
As per ISF data, over 405 of the flexi workers are in the 25-30 age group. Interestingly, the majority participation in the flexi working population is shifting to the 31-45 years age bracket. FY2022 saw over 10% growth in flexi work as compared with other formats of employment, it added.
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