The job market is set to bounce back in 2012 as companies maintain their growth and expansion plans for the year despite the global slowdown. The January-March quarter is likely to see the creation of over 3 lakh jobs in traditionally top-hiring sectors like information technology (IT), business process outsourcing (BPO), healthcare, education, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and energy, according to industry estimates.
Job generation in this quarter is similar to January to March 2011 levels, when close to 3.99 lakh jobs were created in the organised sector . Sectors that are likely to show caution are auto, construction, engineering, FMCG and telecom. The IT and BPO sectors alone will create as many as 2.5 lakh jobs next year, most of which will be created by March 2012, according to IT industry association Nasscom.
“While a slowdown is anticipated, there will not be much of an impact on the job market . In fact, we are seeing a lot of clients going ahead with fulfilling unmet demand,” says Ajit Isaac, MD of Bangalore-based placement and search firm Ikya Human Capital Solution. Hiring mandates, he adds, have grown by up to 10% in the January-March quarter of 2012 compared with the same period last year.
DEMAND FOR TALENT
The expansion of the IT industry into tier-II and tier-III cities will create the maximum thrust in newer jobs, says Nasscom president Som Mittal. At Indian IT and BPO companies, 65-70 % of the hiring is for fresh recruits, while 90% is for MNCs and captive units. The bullish hiring sentiments for next year comes as a whiff of fresh air after last week’s announcement that the Indian economy has grown at its slowest pace in more than two years during the July-September quarter.
The job market will not be affected in a huge way; in fact, there may be more demand for quality talent, says Ficci president Harsh Mariwala. “The government is expected to continue its reform process and attract more investment , considering there are signs of a muted GDP growth for this year. This will usher in more jobs and intensify the shortage of good talent,” says Mariwala, who is chairman and MD of Marico. The first quarter of 2012 will have job numbers similar to 2011, as per Ma Foi Randstad’s hiring estimates from clients.
“The market is likely to be flat this year, which in a way is not a bad signal since the external scenario has worsened as compared with the same period last year,” says Ma Foi Randstad MD & CEO E Balaji. In the January-March quarter of 2010, the organised sectors created some 2.5 lakh jobs, but the figure shot up to 3.99 lakh jobs in the same period this year, as per Ma Foi Randstad’s employment surveys .
“The sentiments were more ripe early this year, which boosted job growth. However, it took a beating in April-May when European crisis and other external factors became more prominent,” says Balaji. The sectors seen driving job growth are infrastructure , power and energy, oil and gas and agrobusiness, according to Sunil Goel, director of executive search firm GlobalHunt.
“Many top players in the IT, ITeS and energy are inviting applications to fill job vacancies. Another robust sector is healthcare, which is benefiting from major corporate investment,” says Ma Foi’s Balaji.
In fact, after IT, most of the jobs are said to be created in the healthcare sector. Hospital chains like Fortis, Apollo, Max and Manipal are adding beds across the country. Fortis, for instance, has 15 projects in the pipeline and plans to hire 1,500 people next quarter. “Some 7,000-8 ,000 beds are getting added every quarter in the private healthcare sector. And each bed creates on an average four to five jobs, both skilled and semi-skilled . Private hospitals alone can add up to 35,000 jobs next quarter,” says Fortis Healthcare global CEO Vishal Bali.
The pharmaceutical sector is not far behind. Companies like Dr Reddy’s Lab, Cipla, Glenmark and Sun Pharma have given fresh hiring mandates for the next quarter, which is 20% higher than the same period last year, says a Mumbai-based headhunter who does not wish to be named. “The pharma industry is completely insulated from external factors and poised to grow in India at a CAGR of 15% till 2020,” says Dr Reddy’s Lab president and global HR head Saumen Chakraborty. The company plans to hire 200 people in the January-March quarter.
Some of the other big names of India Inc have plans to hire in larger numbers. Future Group plans to increase its hiring by 40% to 7,000 jobs in 2012 compared with 5,000 this year. Aditya Birla Retail plans to hire 1,100 people in the forthcoming quarter. “Hiring is directly related to the number of stores coming up, and we will be starting two or three hypermarkets and 30 supermarkets ,” says Aditya Birla Retail CEO Thomas Varghese.
Durable majors LG Electronics and Samsung too have no plans to pare hiring next year. The BFSI segment is seen equally buoyant. “Apart from the big names, a lot of startups have come up in BFSI, which are hiring in good numbers. The retail business is growing particularly well,” says Edelweiss HR head Shaily Gupta. Edelweiss plans to hire 500 people next year compared with 300 this year, while ICICI Prudential Life Insurance plans to hire more than 1,000 people next quarter.
“Business is growing sequentially month on month,” says ICICI Prudential HR head Judhajit Das. The company has hired some 6,000 people this year and is planning to hike hiring numbers for 2012. Standard Chartered Bank says drawn up a robust raw talent strategy in place with the objective of having a ready talent pipeline available, says Madhavi Lall, regional head ( HR – India & South Asia). The bank is increasing its campus hiring in India every year, from 149 people in 2010 to 186 in 2011. It now plans to scale this up to 211 people in 2012.
MIXED BAG
The FMCG sector is proceeding with caution , though, given that it is battling high input costs for domestic sourcing due to commodity inflation and from overseas due to a weakening rupee. Input costs have already weighed down on the profitability of companies like Godrej Consumer Products and Emami. Hence, companies are mainly looking at replacement hiring in the first quarter and will undertake measured hiring in the next few quarters.
Dabur, for instance, plans to hire only 50 people in January-March 2012, which is less than the corresponding period last year. Entry and junior levels will see the most number of jobs being added. There may not be any growth in the mid- and seniorlevel hiring since attrition rates have fallen , says Ma Foi’s Balaji. The outlook for the education sector is reasonably good as it is in the growth stage, says Educomp Solutions president, Group HR, MS Venkatesh. Not everyone is gung-ho about hiring prospects for 2012, particularly in the first quarter.
“This year, corporates are battling a triple whammy – commodity inflation , rise in interest rates and a weakening rupee – which can potentially dampen investor confidence. The market may take a cautious view even as it hires people, and can improve in the subsequent quarters unless the external scenario worsens ,” says Sudhakar Balakrishnan, MD, global staffing firm Adecco India.
Sectors like auto and auto ancillary, construction , engineering and telecom may be a little cautious in the next few quarters , says Naukri.com executive VP and national head (sales) V Suresh. “Sectors which are showing signs of growth and where we expect a huge demand for quality talent will give out good increments to retain and hire talent,” says Suresh.
Source:http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-12-09/news/30498064_1_lakh-jobs-ma-foi-randstad-md-job-market
