New Year bonanza: Nearly 20 pc jump in hiring, fatter pay!

Notwithstanding a cautious start, hiring activities gathered momentum in the second half of 2010 and companies are estimated to have created over a million jobs in the organised sector alone.

Led by fast-growing sectors such as telecom, consumer durables and real estate, HR experts feel that hiring is most likely to jump 20 per cent in 2011. With escalation of the talent war between companies, pay packets too are expected to climb at a rate of about 20 per cent, they opined.

"There would at least be 20 per cent more hiring at the starting level and may be 10 per cent more at mid-management level as compared to second half of 2010. Almost all sectors of Indian economy would hire (in 2011)," staffing services firm Futurestep's Country Manager Asim Handa told PTI.

Futurestep is part of global HR firm Korn/Ferry International. Improving economic conditions, coupled with many companies' aggressive expansion plans, are expected to further fuel hiring activities, especially in the first half of 2010.

Recruitment firm TeamLease Services' Vice President, Rituparna Chakraborty, said the average hiring increase would be "anywhere between 10 to 18 per cent across sectors next year".

Global consultancy firm Deloitte India's Leader (Human Capital Advisory Services) P Thiruvengadam said recruitment levels have significantly improved in all sectors this year.
The sectors definitely creating jobs (next year) would be healthcare, life sciences, retail, infrastructure and manufacturing, among others, he added.

Online job portal Monster.com's Managing Director (India/ Middle East/South East Asia), Sanjay Modi, said India is going to emerge as a huge sourcing ground for global jobs across segments, positions and profiles.

Meanwhile, compensation is also likely to sail northward in 2011, as entities would mainly look to retain talent.

"I do not anticipate huge increases in salaries (in 2011), but performance would be rewarded and the levels of increase could be of the order of 11 to 18 per cent," Deloitte India's Thiruvengadam said.

TeamLease Services' Chakraborty said the hiring sentiment would be positive, especially for sectors such as consumer durables, FMCG, real estate and telecom.

"Salary growth will range anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent across these sectors next year," she noted.

According to Monster.com's Modi, organisations would have to look at new ways of structuring compensation -- by considering a bonus, incentives and stock options, among other steps -- to motivate and retain talent.

The country's organised sector is estimated to have generated more than 1.1 million jobs this year, a recent survey by staffing services firm Ma Foi Randstad showed.

Mirroring the improved labour market situation, TeamLease Services' net employment outlook -- a measure of hiring prospects -- surged to 68 per cent in the December quarter from 47 per cent in March quarter.