New Delhi: India Inc's employment outlook for the first quarter of this fiscal has made a turnaround after two subsequent quarters of sluggishness, with retail and FMCG sectors leading the growth track, says a study. According to staffing company Teamlease for the first quarter of this fiscal year, the overall net employment outlook index made a smart turnaround to recover lost ground. The index gained by 3 points and stood at 73. "This seems to signal that the subdued sentiment has bottomed out and happier times are here again," Teamlease said. In the January-March 2012 quarter, the overall net hiring outlook Index lost a lone point to settle at 70. In the preceding October-December 2011 quarter there was a dip of 3 points in the employment outlook index, which stood at 71, from 74 in the July-September quarter. "While the previous two quarters had seen a fall in most of the sectors, the current outlook is quite positive. Retail and FMCG seem to be leading the growth, backed by strong intent to hire at junior (1-3 years of experience) levels," TeamLease Services Senior Vice President Sangeeta Lala said. Attrition rates, when computed between the previous quarter and the entire year, show a downward trend which may be a welcome news for most industries, Lala added. In the April-June quarter, retail and FMCG segment made a modest but significant 3-point increase in the index. However, infrastructure, healthcare and pharma sectors stayed at their respective 4-quarter low levels. Financial services notched up a couple of points, while manufacturing and engineering witnessed a loss. Interestingly, the bounce back occurred notwithstanding the rather dismal outlook for the broader tech sector (IT, ITeS and Telecom), the report said. It further noted that metros are the favoured recruiting ground for employers, while tier-II and tier-III cities/towns do not seem to be able to break out of their stagnation. The net business outlook index also increased by 1 point, and no respondents reported a decrease in business sentiment. TeamLease releases the Employment Outlook Report every quarter after a survey conducted with HR managers and senior management of leading companies in India. The latest study covered 620 companies.