Low recruitment this year: Survey

In a survey of more than 1,000 recruiters across the country, 61 per cent said they face talent crunch and  hiring levels will be lower this year.

The survey was conducted by Naukri.com, a leading job portal, where more than 70 per cent of the employers sounded confident about the hiring activities this year as most of the hiring will be completed by the first half of 2012.

Majority of the recruiters expressed their preference to hire candidates with four to eight years of experience while some said eight to 15 years will work better. Only 11 per cent of the recruiters showed interest in hiring freshers in 2012.

Although the overall sentiment shows that there will be positive jobs growth over the next six months, but the recruiters in sectors such as auto, banking, pharmaceuticals and construction were not optimistic. Nearly 4 per cent of the recruiters believe there would be layoffs this year while another 4 per cent said there would be no hiring at all.

Ambarish Raghuvanshi, chief financial officer, Info Edge India said, “Continued improvement in business optimism should lead to more momentum in hiring later. Talented employees continue to be at a premium and finding and retaining them is a challenge for recruiters.”

According to at least 24 per cent of the recruiters, attrition levels in their organisations is above 15 per cent. On the other hand, around 60 per cent of recruiters said that attrition in their firms is less than 10 per cent.

The survey also revealed the percentage of increments organisations plan to give to their employees this year. More than 15 per cent of the employers will offer increments of less than 5 per cent whereas 32 per cent said the increment range will vary between 10-15 per cent.