Amid a continuous decline in job postings, hiring trends remain upbeat in the sectors related to Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data. The first quarter (Q1) of 2023 saw many companies including major players like Salesforce, Accenture, and JP Morgan Chase & Co announcing layoffs amidst a continuous decline in job postings.

Despite this, sectors such as retail, healthcare, and technology continued to hire actively. Key themes driving hiring trends being Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data, reveals the report by GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

GlobalData's latest report, 'Global Hiring Activity - Trends & Signals Q1 2023', reveals that the global hiring activity continued to decline in Q1 2023, as active jobs declined by 27.8 percent, with new job postings declining by 19.1 percent and closures rose 36.3 percent compared to postings.

However, retail, healthcare, and technology continued to hire actively although active jobs declined by around 30 per cent sequentially in Q1 2023. "Foodservice, travel and tourism, business and consumer services, and construction had higher job postings and lower closures than other industries in Q1 2023. AmRest Holdings SE, Marriott International Inc, and Black & Veatch Corp were among the top recruiters during the same period," said Sherla Sriprada, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, in a statement. In terms of themes, digitalisation, AI, and renewable energy had higher job postings and lower closures during the quarter.

"While the decline in job postings and the surge in layoffs are concerning, the key takeaway is that industries need to adapt to digital transformation and upskill their workforce to stay relevant," Sriprada said.