The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on the world’s economy, threatening to cause a global recession. The novel virus which has killed over 50,000 people in India has affected almost all business sectors. Since March, most companies have had to either ask employees to go on indefinite leave without pay, slash salaries, or sack workers.
In the midst of this, India’s job market seems to be recovering slowly, but the recovery is uneven. Most of the new job opportunities and pay increase are coming from the sectors that were least affected during the coronavirus lockdown. Some of these sectors continued to boom regardless of the situation. We highlighted some of the sectors where you would get to experience salary hikes and more job opportunities.
E-commerce
While the COVID-19 pandemic affected some other sectors badly, it gave the Indian e-commerce market a positive push. A PWC report has predicted that due to the effect of this boom, the Indian e-commerce market will likely touch the $100 billion market in 2022. Meanwhile, reports before the pandemic had earlier projected the sector to hit $100 billion in 2023.
Even though the lockdown led to an overall decrease in consumer spending, it caused a rise in online spending. Many consumers who had to remain at home had no choice than to use online channels to purchase goods. The demand for goods online will continue to increase and this can only lead to one thing, an increase in e-commerce job opportunities and an increase in wages.
Read More : 5 best online jobs for students
Startup
Even though it seemed like the COVID-19 impact should be more on this sector, many startups actually grew. This is because unlike the already established sectors, startups were able to diversify quickly and survived the impact of the pandemic.
Startups like Swiggy and Zomato, that specializes in delivering food items also began to deliver alcohol. They began to also accept orders for grocery items that challenged already existing top industry leaders. Evidently, for many startups, the COVID-19 lockdown had led to accelerated growth.
Online gambling
Another sector that experienced large growth during the pandemic was the online gambling Industry. Many Indians were forced to stay at home and needed to keep themselves busy with different activities. This led to an increase in the urge to play online casino in India. Many and more gambling sites, such as Genesis, are popping up and people are needed to attend to the increasing demand for online gambling services. However, not enough people skilled for the jobs in the sector.
Read More : No Slowdown Of The Indian Gaming Market
FMCG
FMCG companies, especially those selling essential products such as fresh food, packaged food, bottled water, and hygienic products have had to change strategy. Many of them have stepped out to partner with other firms to distribute their products. For example, Marico recently worked with Swiggy and Zomato to distribute its food portfolio under the Saffola brand. As other sectors try to recover, many FCMG firms have grown stronger due to decisive steps taken during the lockdown.
IT
Even though this sector was also hit by the lockdown, the impact was not so huge like the others. Many more companies are now looking for better ways of making their employees work from home and this has led to an increase in demand from the IT sector. These companies who have employees working remotely also need stronger data protection services against cyber threats. Thus, the demand for IT specialists to solve these needs is on the increase and companies are offering higher wages.
BPO
India’s outsourcing industry currently employs over 4 million people in the country and has already grown 6.1 percent from 2019. There has been an increase in salaries for workers in this industry as they have had to do a lot of work. From providing technical support and customer care to application development and data management, Indian BPO’s are performing many crucial operations for major companies outside the country.
