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HOT JOBS-2005
AS the pace of life moves faster and faster, one has to run, just to stay in the same place. This fast pace has changed the way we work and the kind of jobs that are increasingly being created. Ten years ago, 80 per cent of the jobs were in the area of manufacturing, while today the majority are in the services sector. Government jobs that were at a premium a decade back are today the lowest priority for those looking at a wide choice of other exciting options. Moreover, where job security was the biggest attraction, in today's work scenario there is hardly any mention of this factor. This roller-coaster environment in the job market makes it both exciting and confusing for youngsters. Never before have there been as many career options as there are today. Never before has there been as much information as there is available today. Moreover, in this dynamic work scene, no job lasts for a lifetime. Jobs are created and destroyed by the thousands each month. The recent tsunami disaster with its horrendous fallout has suddenly provided scope for intrepid reporters, disaster management professionals, social workers, psychologists and many others. This puts additional pressure on job seekers: they have to be on their toes, updating skill requirements to meet changing demands. There is certainly a whole new world of opportunities waiting to explode in the New Year. Take your pick. Telecom track Along with IT, the telecom sector is the fastest growing in the country today. Currently, there are around 12 million mobile users and this figure is increasing so rapidly that it is estimated to go up to 75 million in the next five years. Moreover, an additional 47 million new land lines are also to be added in the coming years and the whole country is expected to be connected by broad-band/ digital cable very soon. This puts the demand for telecom professionals over the next five years at almost 1,50,000. The top jobs are open in the area of marketing of different telecom services as well as for qualified telecom engineers. There are also opportunities in networking, telecom protocols such as ISDN, wireless protocols such as GSM, as well as those providing the cables, the hardware and equipment that is going to provide employment in the future. IT matters WHILE information technology (IT) has seen a dip in the fortunes of many, it is now back with a bang offering a huge area of opportunity and a wide variety of jobs. As more and more areas of work get computerized, there will be a continuous demand for both software and hardware professionals. Those looking at a career in the IT sector, it is important to be conversant with core technologies like C, C++ and UNIX and many others, as strong pre-requisities to build on future technologies. The Indian software and services exports are likely to grow in 2005 with large companies bagging bigger contracts and driving new projects and development work in the country. Top IT companies are also shifting operations to cities other than the metros such as Cochin, Pune, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam and even Goa. Those in the area of IT services would do well to look at a whole new range of courses in programming languages, software engineering, Internet and e-mail commerce applications, network management, database administrtaion and integration. Insured growth Insurance is yet another area waiting to explode. There are currently around 17 insurance companies in the market today. Many more private companies like Reliance and Sahara will soon enter the fray. Growing at 15 per cent per year, only 24 per cent of our population has been covered for life insurance and there are still over 300 million potential people. Health insurance is another area that has hardly been tapped in our country. And there is still a lot of scope for risk coverage of other items, such as homes, vehicles, intellectual property, films, books, etc. and an estimated requirement of over 20,000 new jobs in next two years. The prestigious jobs here are for professionals in marketing and sales and MBAs and for insurance agents, surveyors and loss assessors. Biotech beckons
Retail route AS more and more Indians join the growing middle class with discretionary incomes, their spending will also increase. That is why the retail sector is probably the second largest source of employment in India. It is the fastest growing sector with 12 million retail outlets today, and expected to grow 30-35 per cent in the next five years from the current Rs2,500 crore, it is estimated to create 50,000 jobs in the next five years. There are a variety of jobs and responsibilities in a retail showroom. You can be expected to handle a particular brand, product or service, or be involved in multi-tasks with some of the larger department stores, or retail chains. More business schools are providing training in retail management and some large retailers are setting up retail academies too. Healthcare is hot Healthcare will soon join the ranks of hotspot careers as more and more corporates set up hospitals and clinics across the country. With the government in no position to spend more on medical care, the Rs 60,000-crore healthcare services market is being taken over by the private sector. A CII McKinsey study sees the healthcare sector growing at 13 per cent per annum. No wonder, large companies like Apollo, Wockhardt, Max, Fortis, Tata and Duncans are setting up state-of-the-art hospitals and clinics across the country. All this action translates into growing opportunities for healthcare professionals — not just doctors, nurses and technicians, but managers and administrators as well. Moreover, as people become more health conscious the money they are willing to spend on healthcare has shot up. Medical tourism is a buzzword now, with foreigners coming to India for cost-effective medical treatment. Indian nurses are in great demand today in countries like the USA, UK, Germany, Japan, the Philipinnes, Norway and Sweden. In fact, 20 per cent of nurses passing out of nursing schools in India go abroad. Male nurses too are in demand in physiotherapy units, trauma care centres, intensive care and coronary care units. BPO boom WHILE the top jobs continue to be software engineering, software systems/ programming jobs and the hardware jobs, the IT-enabled jobs in call centres, business process outsourcing (BPOs) and medical transcription are recruiting young people in huge numbers. Until July 2000, call centres employed 10,000 people. By year 2008, it is expected that they will create employment for 2,70,000 people, generating revenue worth Rs.20,000 crore. Employing close to 2,00,000 professionals, BPO firms on an average add between 200-300 people per month. Currently covering business areas such as banking, financial services and insurance, they are also diversifying their business and providing a larger share of non-voice services. Currently, 3,800 people are employed in Medical Transcription, generationg Rs.140 crore revenue. Another 1,60,000 persons are projected to be employed in this area in the next few years. Advances in animation
The Indian animation industry alone is worth Rs 220 crore and targeted to grow to Rs 440 crore in the next two years. As many as 20,000 multimedia specialists and animators are required for cartoons, 3D films, special effects for films and TV, and advertising in the next two years. There is also a growing demand for web sites from corporates, small enterprises and individuals and this demand for designers on the Internet is doubling every 9-12 months. Enter entertainment Another area catering to the increasing discretionary income is that of entertainment. Over the last couple of years, huge investments have been made in providing a range of leisure activities, performing arts programmes, music and film shows and theme events. So, different areas of entertainment are expected to provide a range of jobs for those willing to bet on a not so formal job profile. Leisure and family entertainment centers, water parks, theme parks, clubs, bowling alleys, pool parlours are likely to throw up many career opportunities, as they are estimated to grow to Rs 1000 crores in the next 5 years. Event management is another huge segment which has seen 100 per cent growth in the last three years. Resorts and clubs are in demand for corporate seminars and getaways, and will look for professionals in the area of marketing, public relations and leisure management.
Another area catering to the increasing discretionary income is that of entertainment. Over the last couple of years, huge investments have been made in providing a range of leisure activities, performing arts programmes, music and film shows and theme events. So, different areas of entertainment are expected to provide a range of jobs for those willing to bet on a not so formal job profile. Leisure and family entertainment centers, water parks, theme parks, clubs, bowling alleys, pool parlours are likely to throw up many career opportunities, as they are estimated to grow to Rs 1000 crores in the next 5 years. Event management is another huge segment which has seen 100 per cent growth in the last three years. Resorts and clubs are in demand for corporate seminars and getaways, and will look for professionals in the area of marketing, public relations and leisure management. Future in fitness Fitness too is a whopping Rs 2,000 crore industry. Personal fitness trainers are the rage. Aishwarya Rai has one, so does Sachin Tendulkar. Companies too undertake corporate fitness programmes. Companies like Infosys have in-house gyms manned by experts. Courses in fitness training and physical education are available. Among the better ones are those run by Reebok in the four metros, while fitness centres like the VLCC and Talwalkar also offer training programmes.
— The writer is a noted career expert
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AS India has made a name for itself in the IT sector, so it will be in biotechnology. Today, with the increasing demand for high yielding food crops, for medicine and healthcare and the need for environmental protection, biotechnology is a big global growth area. With India's huge pool of scientific talent, the world is again looking for professionals from this country. Another new area is that of bio-informatics which is basically using software to utilise information from the vast biological database. Gene sequencing throws up a lot of data that needs to be processed which brings it within the ambit of IT. So, biotechnology and bio-informatics are areas that throw up many opportunities for professionals, in India as well as abroad.
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