BackHiring expectations at Indian firms seen at 10-month high
Hiring expectations at Indian firms seen at 10-month high
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New Delhi: Companies in India are at the most optimistic they have been in the past 10 quarters in terms of their hiring expectations.
This is the finding of the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the fourth quarter of 2007.
The survey, conducted by staffing services firm Manpower across the world and in India, and established in the third quarter of 2005 here, asks companies one question: how they expect employment at their facility to change in the following quarter as compared with the current quarter?
From this, it derives a net employment outlook by simply taking the percentage of employees or companies anticipating an increase in total employment and subtracting from this the percentage of employees anticipating a decrease in total employment. The net employment outlook thus calculated for Q4 2007 (October to December; the survey follows a calendar year) is 47.
According to the survey, the services sector leads in terms of net employment outlook with a score of 54.
However, in terms of change over the current quarter (Q3, 2007), it is finance, insurance, and real estate companies that have made the most gain, 17 points.
The net employment outlook for manufacturing companies has not changed between Q3 and Q4 2007, and remains at 40.
“The services sector has a large share in the gross domestic product of our country and is growing at a fast pace. As this sector is people dependent, it requires large number of people to cater to its growth," says Srinivas Kandula, global head, human resources, iGATE Global Solutions Ltd.
“The reason why manufacturing sector has not been big on hiring is because of increased automation and improved work processes," adds Sanjay Bali, vice-president, human resources, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd.
In terms of regions, South India leads with a net emplyment outlook score of 50, although it is North that has gained the most from Q3, 13 points.
The East lags with a score of 33, a decline of 4 points from its Q3 score.
A high net employment score for the quarter means that more companies expect to hire more people in the quarter than they did the previous one.
However, it does not necessarily mean more people will be hired in the quarter. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey covered 4922 employers in India.
“With employers implementing business strategies and plans in full motion, hiring activity is projected to gain further momentum in this quarter," says Soumen Basu, executive chairman, Manpower Services India Pvt. Ltd.
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