A hiring recovery witnessed in the top five metros, which account for a bulk of white-collar jobs in India, appears to have been stalled amid a rising number of coronavirus infections and the potential return of clampdowns in some of the worst affected regions.Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, which collectively put out about 1 million active white-collar job openings over the last 12 months and contributed nearly 40% to the overall count for the year, saw a stagnation in the growth of active white-collar jobs in March, according to job postings data tracked and curated from companies’ official job pages on LinkedIn and direct postings on top job boards.After a sharp 11% rise in February, these cities saw only a little over 1% growth in contribution towards the overall active jobs count in March, showed the data by specialist staffing firm Xpheno. In a month when the growth was expected to be steep, stagnation is a poor sign.“The active jobs count remained buoyant through February and early March and were on a trajectory to breach the 320,000 mark for the month. The surge in infections and the impending threat of a second wave played spoilsport and slowed down the curve by nearly 10%,” said Kamal Karanth, cofounder, Xpheno.The data show that while the overall active white-collar job openings stood at 290,000 as of March-end, up from 260,000 a month ago, the last two weeks of March saw a weakening of hiring sentiment with moderation in the pace of growth amid second wave. “A combination of factors including the threat of a second wave, potential lockdowns, slower-than-expected vaccination campaign, debates on vaccine effectiveness and reports on post-inoculation infections led to a slowdown of active jobs,” Karanth added.‘Wait-&-Watch Mode for Cos’However, the total number of active jobs at the end of March was 18% higher than the closing figures of the same month a year earlier, an indication that the jobs market was on a path to recovery.Sectors such as airlines, hospitality, large-form retail, entertainment and recreation, which were the hardest hit by the pandemic last year and were on a path to recovery amid declining Covid cases and vaccine rollout news earlier during the year, are once again bracing for a rough patch, according to the Xpheno jobs outlook.Experts are of the view that it could be a temporary pause as firms want to tread cautiously before putting their hiring plans in full swing. “Post Diwali, there has been a certain trajectory of recovery and companies have been planning for their hiring for this year. However, they may be going a little slow for some time and adopt a wait-and-watch approach,” said Pinakiranjan Mishra, partner and leader, consumer products and retail, at EY India.