The overall Job Speak Index (a monthly report of the general placement scenario by www.naukri.com), which has seen three consecutive months of dip, was 1% lower in October than September.

Hitesh Oberoi, CEO, InfoEdge India says, “Most employers are cautiously optimistic of hiring plans. Most recruiters will continue with selective hiring for the next few months.”

An analysis of the survey shows that BPO and auto sectors have seen the most hiring activity in the city with the Job Speak Index moving 11% up in the BPO and 6% in the auto sector in October from September.

“Although the market is flat for IT-software jobs, there definitely has been an upward movement for BPOs. This may be attributed to our clients opening up and increasing business. There are more assignments at various levels. Hence there has definitely been an increase in placements of both freshers and professionals,” said Bhakti Mehta, Principal Consultant, The Redwood Horizon, a Pune -based HR and recruitment firm.

“There was definitely an increase in placements in core engineering like electronics and mechanical engineering sectors in October. The auto sector has seen a major increase in placements recently with Tata Motors and Bajaj absorbing students,” said Sandeep Meshram, Training and Placement officer, College of Engineering, Pune.

The survey says mirroring low hiring trends of Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sector, the demand for professionals working in the sector moved up 15% from September to October. The demand for professionals in project management and marketing moved up 12% and 8% respectively in the same month. Professionals in accounts, HR and sales witnessed an increase in hiring levels within the range of 2% and 5% respectively in the said period.