Online hiring down over 6% in May as firms get cautious

New Delhi: Recruitment activities in the country witnessed a slowdown in the month of May as employers chose to tread cautiously due to global economic conditions, says monster.com.[caption id="attachment_877619" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representation image. Reuters[/caption]The job portal's employment index declined to 127 in May as compared to 136 in the previous month, registering a decline of 6.62 per cent.On year-on-year basis also the index witnessed a decline of 1 per cent as compared to May, 2012. "The Monster Employment Index India exhibits a slight decline annually. This decline is reflective of the cautious approach of the Indian employers owing to the global economic conditions," Monster.com (India/ Middle- East/ South East Asia) Managing Director Sanjay Modi said.The Monster Employment Index India is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity based on a real-time review of millions of jobs available culled from a large selection of career websites and online job listings across India.Despite the overall downtrend, a sectoral analysis showed that hiring in sectors like education, production and manufacturing continued.In May, online job availability decreased in as much as 25 of the index's 27 sectors. Meanwhile, the demand for technically qualified professionals in all occupations also witnessed a decline during the month, and similar was the case with the 13 cities under review.None of these cities witnessed an increase in online job demand as compared to the previous month, the report said.PTI