‘IT, pharma, e-com buck job losses, witness hiring surge’
The Hindu
Some IT roles command 50% wage premium: Balakrishnan
Information technology (IT), pharma and e-commerce have bucked the trend of job losses, emerging as top hirers between February and April, said a top HR official. The hiring surge comes in the backdrop of an estimated 8.6 million salaried jobs, especially in travel, tourism and hospitality, being lost in the same period, as data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed. While an estimated 8.6 million salaried jobs have been lost in three months from February to April 2021 as per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, increased hiring in three sectors namely IT, Pharma/healthcare and ecommerce/warehousing has come a saving grace in such troubled times.
The latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) by MoS&PI reveals a transformative shift in India’s economic landscape. For the first time in over a decade, granular data on Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) highlights a significant decline in the proportional share of food spending—a classic validation of Engel’s Law as real incomes rise. Between 1999 and 2024, both rural and urban consumption pivoted away from staple-heavy diets toward protein-rich foods, health, education, and conveyance. As Indian households move beyond subsistence, these shifting Indian household spending patterns offer vital insights for social sector policy, poverty estimation, and the lived realities of an expanding middle-income population.












