Mumbai: Recruitment had been sluggish for the past three months, but February brought some relief to the jobs market with Sales professionals, FMCG and Consumer durables witnessing an 8% rise in demand reveals the latest RecruiteX, the recruitment index by TimesJobs.

Lucknow was the best performing location with an 18% rise in talent demand, followed by Ahmedabad at 13% in February 2017. Among metros, Chennai was the only metro city to report growth (6%) in talent demand. None of the other metros saw significant growth in hiring activity during the month. Among states, Kerala saw a rise of over 30% in talent demand, followed by Tamil Nadu with a 17% rise reports the TimesJobs RecruiteX.

“Job creation growth both in volume and value terms is being driven by tier-2 cities. Consumer buying power in these cities is fueled tremendously by multiple family members earning in the same household. Businesses are expanding operations and moving into new geographies, leading to a rise in demand for fresh talent in non-metros. In addition, with the Union Budget’s focus on increasing consumers’ buying power, FMCG and consumer durables are increasing their sales teams, gearing up to service this growing demand, in February 2017.” says Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions.

Demand up by 8% for sales professionals while Consumer durables/FMCG reported an 8% rise in talent demand. Demand grew by 4% for entry level professionals

With large scale business expansions, mergers and acquisitions in the corporate world, sales and business development roles have become crucial for business success and sustenance. These professionals saw an 8% rise in demand in February 2017 and had witnessed an average rise of 1% since December 2016, as per TimesJobs RecruiteX.

Doctors, nurses and medical professionals also posted a significant rise (4%) in demand. Demand was up for hospitality and customer care professionals by 1%, as well during the month reports TimesJobs.

The TimesJobs RecruiteX reports that consumer durables/FMCG industry posted an 8% rise in talent demand in February 2017. The Retail sector also saw a 7% rise in talent demand during the month. The Construction sector posted a 6% rise in demand while the Manufacturing industry reported a 4% rise in talent demand during the month. The BPO/ITeS sector saw stable talent demand, while IT/telecom industries registered a drop of 1% in hiring during February 2017.

As per TimesJobs RecruiteX the demand for professionals with less than 2 years of experience reported a rise of 4% during February 2017. Professionals with 5-10 years of experience witnessed a rise of 1% in demand. Those with 10-20 years of experience also saw a 4% rise in demand, during the month. Senior Professionals with over 20 years of experience saw a 17% drop in demand. This is the first time since November 2016 that demand for senior professionals has declined.