SMEs on hiring spree, outlook upbeat for 2023 recruitment as well: Report

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Ever since the pandemic has shown signs of weakening in the country, India Inc is witnessing a surge in job applications, as the employment market is gradually opening up. Year 2022 has been one of the best for job opportunities across sectors as most of the companies are ramping up hiring.

Among employment openings, jobs and professional network platform Apna.co witnessed 25 percent increase in its employer base, which was majorly led by small and medium enterprises (SMBs) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in 2022.

Jobs posted by SMBs clocked a 60 percent surge year-on-year (YoY), mainly due to opportunities emerging from across tier 1 and 2 cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru, as well as from Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. The report also noted that employers from these cities posted more than 2.1 million jobs in the current calendar year.

There are 6.3 crore MSMEs in the country, which are providing 11 crore jobs currently.

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Overall, this year, more than 12 million professionals registered on the Apna.co platform, leading to a 67 per cent YoY user growth in 2022. The report also stated that 20 new users registered on the platform every minute, and three job applications were facilitated every second.

On hiring outlook for the next year, the Apna.co report noted that this surge will continue in 2023, "as a majority of the new users who registered on the platform were from tier 1 cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru".

Reports from various job portals have shown that India's SMB and MSME sectors have continued to lead in the overall intent to hire. In fact, according to requirement services portal TeamLease's Employment Outlook Report for Q3 of the current year, it is the small businesses that have recorded a significant growth in the current quarter (October-December 2020).

Additionally, during the Winter Session of the Parliament, Minister of state for MSMEs Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma also shared data on employment in MSMEs noting that 1.31 crore people were employed in units incorporated in the financial year 2021-22, which was 98 percent higher from 66.2 lakh employees registering in MSMEs in FY20 or pre-Covid year and 16 percent up on year-on-year basis. The data shared by Verma was sourced from Udyam registration portal.

The data is worth studying as the government aims to add five crore new jobs in the MSME sector by 2025 to the 11 crore jobs it already provides, as per the National Sample Survey (NSS) 73rd round conducted during the period 2015-16.

Verma had also stated separately that MSMEs contribute around 30 percent to India’s GDP and 50 percent share of the income generated from exports.

India Inc job outlook 2023

Come next year, experts had earlier said that a mixed bag of opportunities is likely to greet job aspirants in 2023, as telecom and services-oriented sectors are anticipated to accelerate hiring after recent gloomy months of pink slips in the technology sector amid global economic turmoil.

A recent PTI report quoting job experts said that short-term opportunities will be on the rise and companies will focus on building a work-life integrated culture, nurturing niche talent, enhancing skills, and providing flexible work arrangements.

The report also said one of the major recruitment trends of 2023 is expected to be companies looking to boost internal mobility of talent.

Further, the report by TeamLease Services has said India's hiring sentiment for the services sector stands strong in the March quarter.

In 2022, apart from job registrations for SMBs, MSMEs, various trends emerged in the employment market, including the emphasis on reskilling and upskilling initiatives. These trends are expected to continue in 2023 as well, with companies willing to pay a premium for relevant skills, compared to legacy skills.

Meanwhile, commenting on the growth, Manas Singh, Chief Business Officer, Apna.co, said, “2022 has been a year of tremendous growth for the rising workforce. The emergence of tier-II cities becoming epicentres of opportunities has also been phenomenal. We believe that the evolving ecosystem of the rising workforce led by SMBs and MSMEs will become an integral contributor to the growth of the Indian economy."

(With inputs from PTI)