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Shop around for jobs The growth has started in the cities with jobs chasing people, offering hope and guidance for those on the threshold of their careers. According to job portals and head-hunters, at least 2.2 million jobs will be created in the private sector over the next two years, with retail slated to be the biggest generator of mass jobs, followed by IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS), telecom services, financial services, hospitality and healthcare. And it’s not difficult to guess why. Shoppers today have the option of dealing with enthusiastic young people waiting to attend to you at a mall, with a wide range of products, so different to the dour cranky shopkeeper of yesteryear. They are trained, efficient and extremely courteous. As India gets ready to open its doors to the Walmarts of the West, the retail business will have recruited almost 5 lakh trained hands as well as another 8-10 times that number indirectly in the related supply chains. With the growing middle class and the increasing purchasing power, the retail sector is all ready to boom. Companies like Pantaloons have plans to take on around 7000 personnel in the next two ears, while Shopper’s Stop is looking for 3000 more. With 5000 people required to man a single mall, and 250 malls expected to be set up in the next five years, organised retail in India can provide new jobs to 50,000 young graduates and diploma holders. The retail business is looking for people at all levels, from the school passouts with basic skills to the supply chain and retail management professionals. Opportunity comes calling And it’s not only shopping malls that are attracting the youth with good job possibilities. In fact, with the huge growth of the cell phone market, telecom jobs are possibly the fastest off the block. Riding on the back of falling call charges, a large number of private players and government deregulation, telecom is witnessing a huge demand for people. As new telecom circles get added on, there is a demand for people to man these services. Big players like Bharti, Tata Infocomm, and Hutch have a lead in this sector, but Reliance is fast catching up with the size and scale of its investment in telecom. Reliance’s broadband services are already making its way through hundreds of Indian cities, recruiting thousands of electronics and telecom engineers and technicians to lay the network and more than 5000 more to operate and maintain the services. The Ambanis are also opening 2000 Web World Express shops across the country, each requiring at least 5 people. So, over the next 2-3 years Reliance will hire around 42,000 people and provide indirect employment to another 4-5 lakh. IT’s still got the works While IT and ITeS have moved down marginally from the No 1 position of top recruiter last year, it will most likely have taken in around 1 million new recruits by the end of this year. Large companies like Infosys, Wipro and TCS continue to take on professionals in large numbers, while the ITeS companies like Convergys India and Daksh are facing an increasing shortfall, due to the lack of available manpower both in terms of skills and numbers. However, despite the high attrition rates, Ma Foi Consultants expect up to 2 lakh ITeS jobs to be generated by the end of the year, and a 50 per cent increase next year. Room for more in hotel industry Other sectors feeling the pinch of available manpower are the pharmaceuticals, healthcare and hospitality industries. Star hotels immediately need almost 15,000 trained professionals. With the huge growth in domestic tourism – almost 50 million Indians go on holiday every year, and the steady inflow of international tourists there is a demand for qualified chefs, F&B and housekeeping managers, as well as airline flying and cabin crew. And with each hotel room generating a ripple of indirect jobs in construction, transport, restaurant and catering services, souvenir, guide and travel websites services, and with rejuvenated government tourism departments catching up on lost years, this is another milk cow that hasn’t yet been exploited to the full. And its not just hotels and travel service players who stand to gain, even private hospitals are sprucing up to take in foreign patients. Pharma is prescribed for researchers However, along with the quantitative jobs generated by sectors like call centres and retail there is also a simultaneous demand for qualitative jobs, in smaller numbers in areas like knowledge management, IT consulting, IT development, pharma research and oil and gas exploration. MNC offshoring development centres of firms like Goldman Sachs and Accenture and high-end BPOs which offer back-end research for top investment banks are looking for highly skilled personnel with qualitative skills. With several pharma companies putting a thrust on research and going global to attack the generics market, there is a growing need for manpower particularly in the research departments of pharmaceutical companies such as Ranbaxy and Dr Reddys. Highly qualified research scientists, quality assurance specialists, biotechnologits as well as legal professionals are in being sourced for top-notch jobs both in India and abroad. Besides, specialised areas of scientific research, many pharmaceutical companies in the highly competitive generics markets require legal professionals with dual degrees in patent law and science to tackle the nuances of litigation. Match skills to demand Several studies indicate that the mismatch between the supply and demand of professionals is in terms of the skill-sets acquired by fresh entrants in the job market. So, for those looking to cash in on the huge opportunities in the Indian job market, while working on academic qualifications it may be wise to keep in mind the need to also develop competencies in problem solving, analytical skills, group learning and working in a team-based environment. Such skills along with strong communication abilities can enable any young graduate to confidently apply for the jobs of the future. Concrete avenues in construction And if you look around, the sand and rubble, the workers and the machines tell you we are not through with construction yet. Setting up of the infrastructure is another huge investment that is generating jobs for hundreds of engineers and artisans, and providing the impetus for growth. But for all the new jobs being created, there still remain 4 million unemployed graduates – not for lack of jobs, but
unemployability. Nurse big dreams In fact healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses and radiologists continue to be in demand, both in India and overseas. While the USA faces a shortfall of over 4 lakh, countries like the UK, Australia and New Zealand are also looking for healthcare professionals from India. Cheque out banking & finance While the red hot banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector continues to attract commerce graduates and —
The writer is a noted career expert
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management wannabes, it is retail banking that offers the maximum opportunities. As domestic and international banks get more aggressive on the retail front, they will require at least 30,000-40,000 executives with good presentation skills in areas where customer interface is important. Customer services, in fact, is the new mantra for all companies looking to attract new buyers and new markets. Fast food eateries, department stores, banks, call centres, telecom outlets and even petrol stations are sporting a new breed of customer care professionals. Reliance and the Essar group are looking at putting up diesel and petrol vending pumps across the country in the next two years for which they will require an army of trained hands, around 8-10 people per pump, both technical and managerial.
