Construction, finance sectors to offer highest jobs, says survey
Manoj Kumar

With the boom in housing and insurance sectors continuing, both these areas are set to provide the highest number of job opportunities to educated youths in the coming years. A global survey conducted in 25 countries by the Manpower Employment Outlook revealed that in India, 49 per cent of the companies engaged in construction and mining are anticipating increase in net employment.

Over 4,500 employers were approached by the Manpower Outlook covering 30 cities, including Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

The outlook is strongest in India with an overall Net Employment Outlook of plus 43 per cent, followed by Hong Kong at 27 per cent plus and Japan at 24 per cent.

This is the strongest positive Net Employment Outlook recorded since the inception of the survey in India in June 2005.

With the announcement of the government to focus on roads, ports, construction and urban renewable, the industry estimates, youths with civil engineering degrees and diplomas will get jobs of their choice.

The sectors where the survey found job opportunities to come up are finance, insurance and real estate. The ICICI Bank has already expressed its intention to expand its network in over 400 districts through collaboration with micro- finance institutions. Other banks, insurance companies are also adding manpower to expand their network to tier-II cities.

Over 40 per cent of the respondents from finance, insurance and real estate said they expected to recruit new persons in the third quarter this fiscal.

Employers in all industry sectors have maintained their robust hiring plans either at par or more positive than the second quarter.

However, transportation and utilities is the only industry sector reporting a quarter-over-quarter decrease in employment, while service sector at 50 per cent plus have recorded the most significant increase in hiring plans.

Thirty seven per cent each in public administration and education, and retail sector expressed their intention to add manpower.

Employers in the North region anticipated the strongest hiring intentions for the upcoming quarter with a Net Employment Outlook of 49 per cent plus, while employers in both East and South region were less optimistic compared to North and represented a Net Employment Outlook of 42 per cent.

Of the 1,171 employers surveyed in the northern region, 51 per cent felt that there would be an increase in the hiring tendencies and only 2 per cent felt that there would be a decrease.