Short answer: by 2021 end. Hiring activity, which has been stagnant since the Coronavirus outbreak, has seen signs of recovery since January 2021. The biggest question is when will Indian companies return to pre-pandemic hiring levels. A report by ManpowerGroup India said a majority of companies expect complete hiring recovery by the end of 2021. A few are even more optimistic, expecting recovery by June 2021 even as the vaccination drive has picked up pace in the country. So far, close to 700,000 jobs have been lost across India in the formal sector.