The report also said the businesses that are sensitive to the political-economic fallout, due to upcoming elections, have gone more slow on hiring.

Engineers continue to be the toast of the talent market; they are the only profiles that are being hired - albeit, in small numbers - from a few locations, it said.

Allahabad, Bareilly, Ludhiana, Ranchi and Warangal are the towns where employers are hiring good engineering talents at relatively lower cost as compared to tier-1 cities.

Experience and skills are a big hit for employers as in the coming half-year, middle-level positions steal the limelight - a trend witnessed in the previous half year.

City wise, Ahmedabad and Bangalore lead a charge of positive growth in both employment and business outlook indices. Pune loses badly as the employment and business sentiments go down, while the other laggards include Chennai and Kolkata.

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