Indeed has recently introduced the 2nd edition of its Blue-Collar Hiring Tracker (BHT), one of the leading global hiring and matching platforms. The survey was conducted among 1,223 employers, 2,671 blue-collar jobseekers, and 2637 white-collar jobseekers. Conducted by ValuVox during January – November 2023, it reveals hiring trends and critical insights from the job market in India for 2023, noteworthy trends in India’s blue-collar job market, and the outlook for 2024. The report consists of data-driven insights, making it a valuable resource among corporations, employers, and aspiring job seekers, helping them make informed decisions.
Here are the key findings and hiring trends of the report:
Increased Hiring
The blue-collar workforce witnessed a rise of 7.40% in hiring in 2023.
Top Sectors
Tourism, hospitality, construction and real estate, and logistics are the industries with the most profitable job prospects.
Leading Cities
Kolkata emerged as the leading metro city, showing growth in hiring. Following behind, Pune and Chandigarh are the top-tier cities showing significant development in job possibilities. The booming job growth in these cities is attributed to a number of factors, including the rise of the service sector, infrastructural development, urbanisation, SMB growth, and a cost-effective labour market.
Blue-Collar Employers Looked for GenZ Talent
While white-collar sought millennial candidates
41 per cent of white-collar firms targeted millennial recruitment (aged 27–41), and 49 per cent of blue-collar employers preferred to hire GenZ applicants (aged below 26). Blue-collar employers’ preference indicates a reaction to increasing automation and the resulting need for staff with a strong digital awareness. A younger workforce is also more appropriate for physically demanding jobs because of their increased physical endurance. Digital literacy (27%) and physical strength (83%) are the primary hard and soft skills that hiring managers look for in candidates. On the other hand, white-collar businesses’ preference for millennial hires implies a sophisticated approach to jobs that can call for experience and sophisticated skill sets.
Desired Skill Set
As per the report, driving (53%), machine and equipment operation expertise (33%), communication (79%) and other soft skills, including collaboration (79%), are some of the additional hard skills that employers value. Communication and teamwork are marked as essential abilities for efficient task execution and cooperation in the top three industries that show evident hiring trends: logistics, construction and real estate, and tourism and hospitality.
Largest Number of Recruits was in Entry-Level Positions
The maximum number of recruits happened for entry-level jobs in 2023, making the market fruitful for newcomers. Employers from a number of industries are showing interest in hiring individuals who are just beginning out in their careers, indicating that there are chances for employment for people with different skill sets and educational backgrounds. This investment can be a sign of a proactive industry-wide plan to find and train future professionals and skilled workers.
Companies are Prepared to Adopt Next-Generation Technologies
The survey revealed that employers are prepared to adopt Next-Generation technologies. While 42% of the companies expressed interest in implementing AI integration gradually starting in 2024, 19% of the employers stated that they had already done so. This shift towards technological adaption indicates that a significant number of employers are using AI more and more to innovate, boost productivity, and simplify procedures in their industries.
Regarding the findings, Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales at Indeed India, stated, “2023 showcased substantial hiring growth, especially in tier-2 cities. Looking to 2024, organisations embracing new tech emphasise the need for upskilling among job seekers for a brighter future.”
About Indeed
Indeed is the #1 job site in the world (Comscore, Total Visits, September 2021) that allows job seekers to search for millions of jobs in over 60 countries and across 28 languages. The platform is used by over 3 million employers to find and hire new employees, marking the platform as the largest job site in the U.S., Canada and the world. More than 300 million people use Indeed every month to look for work, submit resumes, and investigate organisations. Compared to other branded job sites put together, Indeed generates 2.5 times as many hires. (Among BreezyHR clients, Sources of Hire Report 2021, U.S.). Indeed is the place where more people find employment than anywhere else.
