The Hindu Business Line : Job creation may surpass expectation in 2006: Survey

An employment survey conducted by Ma Foi Management Consultants has shown that far more jobs are likely to be created in 2006 than was believed at the beginning of the year. The survey indicates that about 10 lakh new jobs could be created this year, against the earlier prediction of 6.2 lakh jobs.

More new jobs are expected in information technology and IT-enabled services, manufacturing, retail and energy, says the Chennai-based HR company.

`Over a million new jobs' represents a 2.95 per cent growth over the previous year. This "excellent growth is a record in the organised sector"... however it is "not encouraging considering that 86 lakh graduates enter the employment market every year, Mr K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director, Ma Foi, told journalists. The IT and ITeS sector would hire 7.04 lakh people and the services sector, including human resource management and finance management, would hire about 3.86 lakh people, he said. On the negative side, Mr Rajan said the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector would see a dip in recruitment and a reduction of 1.31 lakh jobs. The reasons for these include better opportunities in other sectors and abroad, he said.

"While the BFSI sector is growing, it is not generating enough employment," he noted. Of the 2,143 respondents covered in the survey, 52 per cent increased their workforce and 37 per cent did not effect any change in the first half of the calendar year 2006, he said.

According to Mr Rajan, next to IT and ITeS, sectors such as construction, communication and transports, retail, manufacturing, energy and other services show a positive trend in generating new jobs. However, mining showed a negative trend.