New Delhi: The country’s retail sector has seen a pick-up in hiring, recording double-digit growth in April for the first since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to the Monster Monthly Employment Index (MEI) released on Monday.
Hiring in the retail sector has improved significantly, rising 47% year-on-year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, he said.
“The reopening of physical stores has led to a surge in the retail job market. The easing of Covid-19 curbs has led consumers to frequent leisure centers such as malls, creating a demand for retail talent,” the survey says.
A positive business climate helped India record overall growth of 15% YoY and 4% MoM in hiring demand in April.
The Monster Jobs Index is a monthly analysis of online job posting activity conducted by Monster India. Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job openings selected from a wide representative selection of online opportunities, the Monster Jobs Index presents an overview of recruitment activity in line of employers nationwide.
The survey covered the period from April 1 to April 30.
As economic activities continue to increase, the labor market is seeing a recovery in several sectors that have been affected by the pandemic, showing the strongest growth in the month of April, reports the Monster Employment Index (MEI) .
“The retail sector’s aggressive comeback is a testament to its resilience and potential as a strong contributor to our GDP,” said Sekhar Garisa, CEO of Monster.com.
Retail sales have been significantly affected as a result of the pandemic as consumers have been stuck indoors for longer periods. Meanwhile, shopping has moved online, hurting the business of brick-and-mortar retailers. It has also resulted in significant job losses in various organized and unorganized retail formats.
However, the second half of the March quarter saw retailers report a healthy recovery in sales. According to them, this was marked by a return in demand for formal wear, children’s wear and women’s casual wear. As offices resume, consumers are upgrading their wardrobes.
In March, retail sales increased by 28% year-on-year, while increasing by 12% compared to March 2019, according to the March retail survey conducted by the Retailers Association of India (RAI). The association has not yet released data for April.
