The hiring momentum in IT sector continues to remain strong though overall trend remains mixed, a top executive of Info Edge told NDTV Profit. Info Edge runs India’s biggest jobs portal Naukri.com.

“IT for example, since US is doing reasonably well, is still kind of good for us. We have not seen manufacturing really firing as much as we would have liked,” said Chintan Thakkar, chief financial officer of Info Edge.

Speaking about the overall hiring trend, Mr Thakkar said it has been “mixed”.

“A few weeks back, globally the mood was not so great,” he said, referring to the turmoil in global financial markets.

“That would have had impact on the mood overall for recruitment. While some of the sectors have been showing more confidence, some of the sectors are in wait and watch approach.”

In January, overall hiring activity increased by 19 per cent, the jobs portal said in a report. Demand for professionals in ITES/BPO grew by 31 per cent, banking by 25 per cent and IT-software by 20 per cent,

However, during the same month, real estate and oil & gas registered a year-on-year decline in hiring activity in the range of -5 per cent and -18 per cent respectively, the report said.

Among metros, Delhi/NCR witnessed the maximum growth of 30 per cent in hiring activity, followed by Mumbai with 20 per cent and Bengaluru by 17 per cent, the report added.