The year 2021 saw a hiring boom with India’s burgeoning economic boom. This high was soon followed by a low as the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Businesses throughout the country witnessed a plummeting trajectory due to the nationwide lockdown in the early months of 2021. By the middle of the pandemic, it was evident that COVID-19 is here to stay and not likely to go anywhere. Despite this, hiring activities received an uptick, especially in the e-commerce sector. Organizations became agile and quickly adapted as they switched to recovery mode. Some even saw this as the proverbial silver lining on the cloud as they changed their focus to profitability. Amongst these were start-ups and conglomerates who started to establish newer areas of business. Employee expectations with regard to their salaries? Despite the recession induced by the pandemic, 60% of employers are looking to increase their employees’ salaries. Ruling the roost was the Healthcare and Life Sciences sector which anticipated an 8% hike in the average annual salary. This was closely followed by E-commerce and Banking and Financial Services at 7.5% and 6.8% respectively. Employers have also been hugely generous with employee bonuses. As they look at increasing their profitability, companies are ready to dole out whopping bonuses equivalent to an employee’s one-month salary. Almost 55% of companies wish to adhere to the bonus trend. Amongst these too, the Banking and Financial sector was the most generous, where nearly 61% of companies are ready to give out bonuses. What to expect in the future? Even though hiring has seen a spate and so have the corresponding salaries, it is only the quality candidates that will command the topmost salaries. Candidates with the right combination of experience and soft skills will be in greater demand for high salaries and the market returns to normalcy. Soft skills like empathy, communication, teamwork, relationship management, and leadership management will become the key differentiating factors between mediocre and great talent. Hiring at a glance The COVID-19 induced downturn has had a significant impact across the Asia-Pacific region. India too has received a battering. Hiring dipped by almost 18% in the year 2021. As vaccinations abound and the third wave is nowhere in sight, hiring activity has seen a surge with many companies racing to increase their headcounts in the year 2022. Amongst employees, 75% of employees are looking at new job opportunities in the year 2022. Here are some of the job types with the highest hiring activity • Marketing Manager • Health Sector • Operation Manager • Sales and Business Development The sectors that witnessed the highest hiring activity were technology and e-commerce, Fintech, manufacturing, professional services, and Healthcare