2021 Hiring Trends: Sectors In Demand

The wake of the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on recruiters last year. The repercussions of the unprecedented pandemic caused serious devastation to the talent acquisition teams, piled up new demands on others and proved to be a reformer as online recruiting and enrolling a remote workforce became the new norm for many.

This year, various companies will embrace online recruiting technologies, focus on diversity, equity, shift talent attraction to remote candidates, inclusion and more. In order to adapt to the new normal, recruiters will take the opportunity to add the new skills in demand and manifest their value to the organization. Keeping the industries aside, if 2020 taught us anything, it’s that HR leaders and recruiters need to be ready to adapt and adjust their hiring plans. According to a survey conducted by LinkedIn, over 1,500 talent acquisition professionals from 28 countries have identified these trends. To cater to the present hiring shift, companies need to upskill the staff in order to help them enhance interpersonal and communication skills as well. In addition, companies need to focus more on diversity, equity & inclusion in hiring. It is critical to realize that remote work is here to stay and candidates will continue to need assurance that their workplaces are safe. Moving forward many companies will also turn to Gig workers.

Let us look at a few sectors which are likely to see demand in 2021:

  1. Pharmaceuticals: Pharma is a growing industry that is filled with career opportunities. As health care will be the key focus area in 2021 all around the world, a growing expectation from the pharma sector will witness a further increase. The current vaccination drive and medical demand have given huge scope to the Indian pharmaceutical companies. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BSL), healthcare jobs are in high demand and are projected to grow by 14% between 2019 to 2029. Even investment in this sector is expected to receive good traction. The market has seen demand for medical roles such as a Microbiologist, ENT Specialist, Staff Nurse, Medical Superintendent and more. Recruitment platforms such as LinkedIn and Naukri.com have also seen a surge in top healthcare companies looking for professionals.
  2. IT: The IT sector is the least impacted sector when it comes to hiring. As digitalization across companies came to demand with businesses being forced to go virtual, the sector saw a fast recovery in the hiring process. Consumers at present also prefer to transact online through e-banking, instead of physical transactions. The IT sector will continue to upsurge and shape the market’s gross performance. Key roles such as Database Architect/ Designer, Tech Support Engineer, Software Developer and ERP Consultant are currently in demand.
  3. Education: As we know, the pandemic has pushed the education sector to adopt a digital model of learning which aids in its sequential learning. Job economy is proportional to the growth of several industries and the aftermath was distinctly noticeable. A revamped work culture and dependence on digital technologies contributed to the upgrading and downgrading in hiring amongst the key factors. However, skills such as content writing, instructional designing are still in current demand by the recruiters.
  4. Digital Marketing: As more and more technologies and platforms are introduced; companies require skilled professionals to create marketing strategies and run campaigns for the digital ecosystem. With the number of people shopping online, digital marketing professionals will continue to grow and be in high demand. Additionally, SEO professionals are required as they help businesses enhance their ranking in search engines which further increases the discoverability. Digital marketers specialize in areas such as branding, content, analytics, search engine optimization, monetization and so on.  
  5. Freelancing / Gig Economy: The demand for gig workers is expected to amplify further in 2021 as employers look forward to boosting costs amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Even during the lockdown last year, organizations chose to stop hiring, cut back or lay off people. Most of the people got into the gig economy, for instance, software engineers, coders were granted a gig to finish tasks. This helped in increasing both flexibility and deliverability. In the current year, we are witnessing gigs opening up in various other sectors such as the IT sector, digital sector and E-Commerce. 

Other sectors such as Logistic, Telecom, FMCG and Retail are likely to see demand in hiring this year.