Indian Workforce shows its resilient streak amidst Covid-19 job-loss concerns

The Covid-19 crisis and extended lockdown has caused pain for most of the businesses and the workforce alike. A snap poll conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 200 chief executives across various sectors found majority of them fearing their revenues would fall more than 10 per cent and profits dip by over 5 per cent during the first six months of the current fiscal. Industry experts says that 1.5 lakh employees in India’s IT industry might lose their jobs over the next three-to-six months and majority of these layoffs will happen in small IT firms.

But the workforce in India seems to have become cautiously optimistic about the future, according to LinkedIn ‘Workforce Confidence Index’. The index has captured the current sentiments of the Indian workforce with a composite confidence score of +53 for the week of April 1-7.  Although they are confident about the long-term outlook, but have deeper concerns in the short-term regarding, companies’ stability, availability of jobs and personal incomes.   

The report highlighted the pandemic’s impact on the personal finances of Indian professionals, where a quarter of the Indian workforce (25%) has reported a decrease in their incomes, while 39% reported a dip in personal savings, 42% in personal spending, and 31% in number of investments.

The sense of determination among Indian workforce to navigate through these challenging times is also evident from the survey findings as it reveals that while 42% of Indian professionals will increase their time spent in job search in the next two weeks, 64% will increase their time spent in online learning and upskilling efforts over the next 2 weeks to stay productive and unlock new opportunities.

Job-seekers vs. Senior executives

The Workforce Confidence Index highlights different sentiments across different segments of the workforce, from job-seekers to company owners, CXOs, and senior executives.

While self-employed individuals express lower confidence in job stability and financial betterment, data shows they showcase a similar sentiment towards career progression. 51% are confident about their companies doing better in the next 6 months, and 81% are also confident that their companies will do better in the next 2 years.  

In contrast to the mostly optimistic outlook of active job seekers and self-employed professionals, senior management executives showcase caution about future outlook. While a third of Director-level executives feel there are worse times for their companies ahead, only a fifth of individual contributor-level employees feel this way. Findings show that 33% of senior executives feel their companies will face tougher times in the next 6 months, and 69% are confident of their companies’ progress in the next 2 years.