Chennai : The hiring sentiment in Chennai has seen a major drop of 11% in Mar-13 over Feb-13. Traditionally, March has always been a month where recruitment slows down owing to the appraisal season. However, on year on comparison, the Naukri Job Speak index remains the same as March 12 and stands at 1092.

Mr. Ambarish Raghuvanshi, CFO Info Edge (India) Ltd said “We have noticed a small correction after three successive months of growth in the Naukri Job Speak Index of 3% , 10% and 4% respectively in Dec 12, Jan 13’ and Feb 13’.. While some of this can be attributed to seasonality, it is also a fact that business confidence levels which play a strong role in hiring intentions continue to be fragile. A sustainable positive trend will emerge once the economy and the environment are seen to be in a growth mode.”

A detailed analysis of hiring activity shows that almost all key industry sectors have seen dipping indices in Mar-13 over Feb 13’ barring Pharma, Construction and BPO sectors which have shown a growth of 14%, 8% and 6% respectively. The Oil & Gas sector has witnessed the maximum dip in hiring by 13%, while IT- Software Services and the Auto sector saw hiring activity dropping by 5% and 4% respectively when compared to Mar-13.

When we look at the other metros cities, the hiring scenario looks equally cautious with cities like Delhi/NCR and Mumbai seeing a dip of 5% in their hiring activities in March 13 over Feb 13’. Hyderabad and Pune are the only exceptions where hiring activities have increased by 5% and 2% respectively.