The lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 has brought most economic activities, including the talent demand, to a halt and India's talent demand declined 2 per cent in March compared to the same month last year, according to a report.

The year 2020 began on a cheerful note for India Inc with the overall talent demand registering 12 per cent month-on-month growth in January, the TimesJobsRecruiteX report said.

However, as the coronavirus pandemic spread quickly from China to India, most industries started operating remotely and the talent demand in February 2020 saw a dip, the report said.

In March 2020, the talent demand dropped further owing to the nationwide lockdown and registered a loss of 2 per cent year-on-year and 5 per cent month-on-month.

TimesJobsRecruiteX is a monthly recruitment index that records the demand and supply of talent at India Inc.

The Covid-19 spread has brought in uncertain times that none of us had ever thought or imagined earlier. Professionals working in the healthcare, pharmaceuticals, banking, retail and security sectors are working around the clock to keep things working. The other sectors have switched to the remote way of working, TimesJobs and TechGig Business Head Sanjay Goyal said.

The recruiters and HR managers have widely adopted the digital mode for talent assessment, interviews and group discussions, he said.

In this lockdown period, more people have adopted the work-from-home mode, and many are finding it advantageous as well, he added.

Further, the report found that the construction and cement sector saw a decline of 17 per cent in talent demand, automobiles and auto components (8 per cent )and petrochemicals, oil and gas (7 per cent).

However, sectors like retail, accounting and IT and telecom saw improvements in the month-on-month study.

The retail sector saw 6 per cent rise, accounting sector (5 per cent) and IT and telecom (2 per cent).

In the functional areas, IT and telecom was the only profile to register growth (1 per cent) in talent demand in March. All other job profiles noted de-growth including quality and process, that went down by 14 per cent, marketing and advertising by 13 per cent, accounting and finance by 7 per cent, the report said.

Cities like Hyderabad and Secunderabad noted 16 per cent growth in talent demand in March. All other cities, including the metros, saw a slump in talent demand, it said.

Cities which saw maximum drop in talent demand are Chandigarh with a decline of 30 per cent, Ahmedabad 15 per cent and Vadodara 12 per cent in March, it added.