60,000 new IT jobs by Dec-end!

Hiring by information technology and IT-enabled services companies in India will go up by 13 per cent to about 60,000 people in the third quarter of the current fiscal as compared to the previous quarter, says a study by human resources firm, Ma Foi Management Consultants.

Against popular belief, smaller enterprises with less than 100 employees are in an aggressive hiring mode with an 8 per cent growth projection during the current quarter, said the study.

As per the Ma Foi Employment Index, IT and business process outsourcing industry in the country will grow by 13 per cent, adding about 60,000 new recruits during October to December as compared to the second quarter (July-September) period in 2004.

The growth is calculated from a base of 15 lakh employees estimated to be currently employed in the sector, the managing director of Ma Foi, K.Pandia Rajan said while releasing the data in New Delhi on Tuesday.

With liberalisation and World Trade Organisation regime in place, recruitment in the trade related industry comes second with a six per cent growth in the third quarter, while healthcare industry will grow by 5.34 per cent during the period, the survey said.

The survey conducted across 18 industry sectors and 3,295 companies in the country shows that while smaller companies with less than Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) turnover showed an employment generation of 6.1 per cent, those having a turnover of more than Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) was pegged at 0.91 per cent.

Region-wise, the western region of the country topped the list with a 4.31 per cent expected employment generation during the third quarter, closely followed by south at 3.91 per cent, north at 3.07 per cent and eastern part of the country at 2.41 per cent.

According to the survey, the overall Net Hiring Confidence level, which captures the hiring intention or confidence level of the employer, for the current (October-December) quarter is 84 per cent, with the healthcare sector showing a 100 per cent confidence to go for fresh recruitment.

NHC level for healthcare employment was followed by IT and ITES at 98 per cent, education at 92 per cent, transport at 90 per cent, export and import at 88 per cent and auto and auto ancillaries at 84 per cent.

The study also points out the major reasons for high attrition rates in major sectors of the industry, with compensation and benefits constituting the main cause for 29.68 per cent of the employees.

This is followed by career prospects at 26.91 per cent, job related issues at 25.57 per cent, organisational factors at 14.77 per cent and personal factors at 3.08 per cent. These reasons applied to all other sectors as well, the survey said.

With regard to major policies for retention adopted by companies in sectors like IT and ITES, automobiles, fast moving consumer goods and healthcare, compensation linked to employee recognition and rewards are more popular at 24.12 per cent.

Employment development programmes (21.41 per cent) are found to be effective in sectors like power, pharma, oil and petrochemicals, apparel and chemicals.

The study was conducted through a questionnaire sent to 3,295 companies across public and private limited companies and PSUs across 18 industries like textiles and garments, IT and ITES, telecommunication, transport and logistics, hotel and education training and consulting among others.