Jobs, salary hikes to stay muted next year: Experts

With tech-enabled disruption continuing to play its part, companies have become far more discerning in terms of hiring and there is a marked shift in their focus towards making the best of the available human resources.

“2020 is expected to stay flat in terms of employment or, at best, have a marginal growth. With the GDP and key economic indicators yet to pick up steam, it remains to be seen if consumption and/or investments will go up and, if they do, then we have hope for employment growth,” Indian Staffing Federation’s President Rituparna Chakraborty said.

Across industries, the percentage of firms indicating an increase of headcount has gone down. However, roles for the ‘right people’ continue to exist in the market, experts said.

“Initial quarter of 2020 may not be very exciting since the GDP growth has gone down and the organisations are being cautious for their expansions or new initiatives,” executive search firm GlobalHunt India Managing MD Goel said.

H2 of 2020, however, might look promising in terms of job opportunities of the companies resume looking at business expansion and new initiatives.

The year 2019 witnessed a marked slowdown in automobile, manufacturing and engineering sectors, while general elections saw a status quo in government initiatives and policies for 2-3 months.