Has a nasty boss and a lower-than-expected increment made you think of changing jobs? Well, think again because all indications are that India Inc. has slowed down on hiring in the wake of the slowdown witnessed by the economy.

The worst hit sectors are aviation, financial services and BPO, with companies putting off their hiring programs for the second half of the year, media reports say quoting industry experts.

Airlines is the worst hit and the reasons are all too obvious. High oil prices meant a cut in the number of flights and retrenchment of excess pilots and ground staff. A report in the Hindustan Times said that private airlines like Kingfisher were even contemplating a cut in salaries for their staff.

The daily quotes James Agrawal of BTI Consultants to say that the job market in general was witnessing a slowdown with ITES, infrastructure, banking and BPO sectors that were on a recruitment spree in 2007 have gone quiet all of a sudden.

Another aspect of the slowdown is in the increments that one can expect while changing jobs. While the ballpark figure last year was around 50% every time one switched jobs, the figure is now hovering around 25-30% and that too for the really lucky ones.

Of course, the industry expects things to change for the better post November. They believe that a resilient economy, aided by a stable government and steady oil prices would help the industry out of its current nervousness.

Maybe, job seekers should wait till Diwali, collect their bonuses and then start looking for a new job!