Sales, nursing roles in high demand in India, says report

India has witnessed a surge of 8 per cent in unemployment in the recent months, as per a study conducted by Indeed. It further revealed that most popular search terms used by recruiters in 2023 are sales, accounting and nursing that hinted that these are the areas that are most difficult to find talent for.

It also revealed that “resume search is a proactive step that suggests that other [more passive] strategies, such as simply posting a job advertisement online, haven’t been so successful”.

Callam Pickering, APAC senior economist at Indeed told CNBC Make It, “I think it speaks to a certain urgency amongst recruiters and employers around jobs that are particularly hard to fill.” The study revealed that “Sales” is the most commonly searched term by the recruiters in India. It is the 10 per cent of all resume searches on the platform in 2023. As per the study, the percentage of the share of total searches by recruiters in the country are: Sales 10 per cent, Accounting 2 per cent, Nurse 1 per cent, Telecaller 0.94 per cent, and Mechanic 0.9 per cent.

To this, Pickering stated, “I think sales can be a really high stress sector, with considerable staff turnover [and] a high risk of burnout, so I think it lends itself quite well to being a sector where shortages are common, and recruitment can often be very difficult.”

In addition to this, Sashi Kumar, head of sales at Indeed India told CNBC Make It, “sales and accounting cut across various industries and businesses, and therefore, there is high demand. These industries have also seen an increase in the share of job postings since 2020.”

The Indeed research stated that the term “nurse” was the third most commonly searched on Indeed by employers in India in 2023 followed by “Tellecaller” and “mechanic”. He stated, “Indian nursing professionals are increasingly pursuing opportunities in countries such as Australia, Canada, the UK, and the U.S.”

Kumar revealed, “Notably, as India’s services industry continues to expand, there’s a concurrent surge in the demand for telecallers. Telecalling is also a relatively cost-effective way to reach customers, particularly in a market like India, making it an attractive option for businesses.”

The study also reveals that search terms ranking in the top 10 amongst recruiters in India were “business development executive,” “registered nurse,” “electrician,” “graphic designer,” and “PHP developer” which refers to someone who develops websites, programs or applications using the programming language, PHP.