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Slowdown hurts recruitment companies
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Slowdown hurts recruitment companies
Recruitment firms are beginning to sense the slowdown following the global financial crisis. Many sectors, such as banking, financial serv
ices, insurance, realty and IT that are the top recruiters, are seeing a decline in hiring. As a result recruitment agencies are either slashing their staff strength while smaller firms are contemplating shutting down operations.
Earlier, when the Indian economy was on a strong growth path, the Sensex hit record levels of over 21,000 and foreign firms invested in the country. This led to good money flowing into various sectors giving a thrust to their expansion plans and created good job opportunities. “We were in a employees’ market so far. Now, it is the employers’ market, where companies have the last word in hiring,” said ABC Consultants chief executive officer Shiv Agrawal.
Now, the scene has completely changed and, due to problems in raising funds, companies are under pressure to rationalise costs. They are either freezing fresh recruitment or cutting down their existing staff.
Under such a situation, recruitment firms are facing a tough time. “There are many small consultant companies, who were dependent on recruiting people for specific sectors such as call centres, have shut their shop,” said Mr Agwaral.
TeamLease Services chairman Manish Sabherwal says a lot of consultants in Bangalore have cut down their staff strength by 30%-40%. “Consultants, especially offering services in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and IT sectors have slashed their staff strength,” said Mr Sabherwal. The positions offered by TeamLease has been down by half to 3,000-6,000 per day. He adds that “you either have to be a big player or operate in a niche segment to sustain your business.”
Mr Agrawal claims that he has so far not witnessed any problems, but going forward, if the crisis continues, they will have to gear up and increase their market share.
Freshers are likely to be the worst hit, as jobs at the higher level are still safe — since a strong top-level is essential to carry on the business. Stanton Chase chief executive officer R Suresh said his firm is still not seeing the impact as they are recruiters for top-level appointments. “There is still demand for talent at higher and specialised levels in sectors like manufacturing, FMCG, financial sector,” he said.
Despite the slackening of the market, consultants are sure that evergreen sectors like pharma, food, infrastructure, and media, which still look promising, would be the hub of action.
Source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Shrinking_job_market_The_next_crisis/article
ices, insurance, realty and IT that are the top recruiters, are seeing a decline in hiring. As a result recruitment agencies are either slashing their staff strength while smaller firms are contemplating shutting down operations.
Earlier, when the Indian economy was on a strong growth path, the Sensex hit record levels of over 21,000 and foreign firms invested in the country. This led to good money flowing into various sectors giving a thrust to their expansion plans and created good job opportunities. “We were in a employees’ market so far. Now, it is the employers’ market, where companies have the last word in hiring,” said ABC Consultants chief executive officer Shiv Agrawal.
Now, the scene has completely changed and, due to problems in raising funds, companies are under pressure to rationalise costs. They are either freezing fresh recruitment or cutting down their existing staff.
Under such a situation, recruitment firms are facing a tough time. “There are many small consultant companies, who were dependent on recruiting people for specific sectors such as call centres, have shut their shop,” said Mr Agwaral.
TeamLease Services chairman Manish Sabherwal says a lot of consultants in Bangalore have cut down their staff strength by 30%-40%. “Consultants, especially offering services in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and IT sectors have slashed their staff strength,” said Mr Sabherwal. The positions offered by TeamLease has been down by half to 3,000-6,000 per day. He adds that “you either have to be a big player or operate in a niche segment to sustain your business.”
Mr Agrawal claims that he has so far not witnessed any problems, but going forward, if the crisis continues, they will have to gear up and increase their market share.
Freshers are likely to be the worst hit, as jobs at the higher level are still safe — since a strong top-level is essential to carry on the business. Stanton Chase chief executive officer R Suresh said his firm is still not seeing the impact as they are recruiters for top-level appointments. “There is still demand for talent at higher and specialised levels in sectors like manufacturing, FMCG, financial sector,” he said.
Despite the slackening of the market, consultants are sure that evergreen sectors like pharma, food, infrastructure, and media, which still look promising, would be the hub of action.
Source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Shrinking_job_market_The_next_crisis/article
