Coronavirus impact | Here are some job roles companies are still hiring for

When 25-year-old Aarav Mishra lost a BPO job in February 2020, he thought it would take at least six months to find another job. But the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has given him a lucky break; he now works as an e-helpdesk executive with an education-technology company.

It is not just this role that is opening up opportunities for job applicants.

Interestingly, a Delhi-based staffing firm has received a contract to hire tailors across five hospitals for designing personal protective equipment including masks, replacement gloves as also gowns for the staff members.

A financial technology firm, on the other hand, is hiring online therapists to help its employees handle work stress and job uncertainty due to the virus.

COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the job market in India with companies looking to save costs. But some job roles are in demand now that companies have completely transitioned to a work-from-home environment.

Human resource consultants told Moneycontrol that companies are hiring for roles like pharmacist, network engineer, cybersecurity expert, quality control manager (pharmaceuticals) as well as delivery personnel.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR Services told Moneycontrol that aid that in the short-term are hiring IT administrators, helpdesk engineers and some network security administrators because people had to be moved to work-from-home.

“There are some temporary staffing opportunities are there. But as there are talks of the lockdown opened up only in phases, it is likely that these roles may continue for a longer period,” he added.

Among the various sectors, human resource officials said that it is the healthcare, pharmaceutical sectors hiring staff including nurses, medical professionals and hospital technicians.

Also Read: Live updates from the COVID-19 outbreak in India

Apart from the frontline healthcare jobs, sectors like food (especially grocery) delivery and IT/ed-tech are next in line in terms of hiring.

Recruitment consultants said that while information technology firms are hiring to meet the new challenges in the form of cybersecurity and data privacy, these hires could be in for the longer term.

“Data privacy roles are in huge demand. The idea is to quickly poach from fellow firms in the sector by luring them with higher salaries. However, for cybersecurity consultants, the position could only be for the next six to eight months to handle additional pressure from remote working as IT and education-technology firms have cyber experts already,” said the head of IT staffing at a mid-sized HR firm.

For the non-essential services, the job market has almost dried up. This is because companies are saving costs amidst uncertainty around future revenues as COVID-19 has weakened demand.

Sunil Goel, MD, GlobalHunt said that the niche roles like data and cyber, the hires would be absorbed in the longer run.

“We have new technology like 5G coming into India in the near future. While the hiring will be specific and selective, these professionals will be in focus as new technological innovations hit the market over the next 12-18 months,” he added.

The lockdown has also affected the mental health of corporate employees who are finding it tough to manage work and stress. To deal with this, a few companies in the financial services sector are also hiring therapists for six months that can help employees tide over the crisis.

"The payments are made on a per-session basis by the company. We have seen that 35 of our staff members across Gurugram, Mumbai and Bengaluru have availed of this service in the past two weeks," said the head of human resources at a payments technology firm.

With murmurs of a lockdown extension, it is likely that while generic-role hiring will see a flattened curve, specialist skills like healthcare, technology and psychology would continue to attract employment opportunities.