Blue-collar and grey-collar workers are those who typically perform manual labor. They work in a variety of industries, including farming, manufacturing, logistics, construction, repair and maintenance, and retail. They may perform skilled or unskilled work and are compensated on an hourly or daily basis. Blue-collar jobs differ from white-collar jobs, which are typically performed in an office setting and do not require manual labor.
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There are over 400 million people in India who fall into this category of workers. Their number grows on a daily basis as the economy expands and millions of new workers enter the labor force each year. They primarily work in the manufacturing, transportation and logistics, caregiver, and retail industries. In India, blue and grey-collar workers face unique problems and challenges.
According to Billion Careers data, the number of job openings in the blue and grey-collar industries increased by 301% in the previous year, rising from 26,26,637 in 2021 to 1,05,42,820 in 2022. This strong demand is due to a vibrant job market influenced by digitization, automation, and changing work models. Companies are also focusing on skill-based mass recruitment to increase productivity and efficiency, as indicated by the data.
As per the report, the majority of jobs for blue and grey-collar workers are in BPOs or customer service, delivery, data entry or back office, field sales, and retail or counter sales. These categories account for more than 80% of all open positions. The retail and BFSI sectors saw a sharp rebound in business across the country in the March quarter. Similarly, most Tier II and III cities have seen a steady recovery in hiring across industries.
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“The job market trends of 2022, ranging from the Great Resignation to the emergence of gigs, have shown that every segment will be more focused on hiring, including blue and grey-collar workers,” said Ajay Kumar Singh, Sr. Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Billion Careers (a Quess subsidiary). “Organizations today also prefer hiring employees with tech-related skills, as digitization has penetrated across India. Recruiters will optimize hiring processes through technology and address the demand-supply talent gap, focusing on employee engagement and retention.”
Geographically, Delhi had 15% of the jobs and Bengaluru had 14%, accounting for 29% of total job vacancies. The other top three cities in India for blue and grey-collar jobs are Mumbai (13%), Hyderabad (8%), and Pune (7%).
The findings are based on activity observed by Quess Corp on its new hiring platform, Qjobs, which was launched in November 2020 to assist companies with blue and grey-collar hiring.
Freshers made up 43% of the hiring pool, while experienced talent with 1-5 years of experience made up 45%. However, male job seekers outnumber female job seekers by 81%, forming an overwhelming majority, while female job seekers account for 19% of all seekers on the platform. In terms of education, 57% of all job seekers are graduates or higher, indicating a higher quality of blue and grey-collar talent in India.
In the March quarter, Qjobs had over two million blue and grey-collar job openings. In FY22, the number of job seekers on Qjobs increased by 76% over the previous quarter, reaching over 3.5 million.
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