Originally published in The Economic Times

The number of jobs openings fell 6.73% year-on-year in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal, according to a survey based on job listings on talent marketplace SCIKEY.

The survey, however, found that certain roles including IT designers, engineers, sales, operations and management professionals, HR and admin staff saw higher demand during the period.

This comes at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has forced companies to lay off employees or cut salaries to ride out the tough times.

“The Covid-19-led business uncertainty has impacted the hiring plans of many companies, at the same time there are certain sectors that are Covid-proof and are rapidly expanding their teams. This is also giving rise to new skill sets to manage the uncertainty and will quickly become the new normal,” Akshay Sharma, co-founder of SCIKEY, said. “Upskilling and meeting the demand requirements of the job market will enable opening up of new jobs and roles.”