India most bullish on hiring plans: Survey

by Times of India

While the world feels the pressure of a global slowdown, India Inc is still optimistic about the future. This is reflected in its hiring plans. Corporate India is expected to continue employing more people in the next four months, putting India in the No.1 spot among 33 countries in terms of hiring, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

The study done among 5,000 employers in India showed almost 50% companies plan to add more people on their rolls by December 2008, while only 2% expect to reduce intake. Even though India's net employment outlook — a measure of the job market which the survey calculates by looking at a number of variables — has weakened by two percentage points since last quarter, it has remained relatively robust so far.

The mood is more buoyant among companies in the south. A look at the net employment outlook in south India shows it stands at 46% compared to 43% in the north.

Among sectors, mining and construction will see maximum growth in coming months, the survey says. Employment outlook in these sectors is as high as 54% and companies expect to both create and fill up vacancies.

"As most public-private partnership deals finally take shape on ground, this sector will see a boom," says Naresh Malhan, managing director, Manpower India. The mining industry in India has been growing at 5% since 2002 and is expected to touch $30 billion by 2012. And, construction is the second largest economic activity after agriculture. "As investment in infrastructure goes up, construction will be the biggest beneficiary in the next five years," Malhan adds.

Following close behind is the service sector, which too is expected to see brisk hiring in the coming months. The employment outlook stands at a high 47% although the sector has seen a 11% dip since last year. "This is because of a slowdown in the IT/ITES, aviation, hospitality, travel and tourism sectors because of inflationary pressures," Malhan explains. Telecom, however, will continue to fuel growth in services.

Finance, insurance and real estate sectors too will hire but it will be less than earlier. In fact, these sectors together have seen the maximum dip of 23% points, the steepest in the past six quarters. Most of the slowdown has come in finance. Manufacturing, on the other hand, has managed to hold its own, with auto ancillary and machinery units fuelling growth here.

Overall, the hiring outlook for India is one of the best anywhere in the world. As for job-seekers in India, the good times continue even as the rest of the world turns circumspect.