Digital India spurs hiring activity more than Make in India campaign: Report

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government completes its first year in power (May 2014-15), his push to transform India into a global manufacturing hub seems to have revived the otherwise dull hiring sentiments in the manufacturing sector.

According to RecruiteX, there is a visible impact on job creation in the automobile, auto ancillaries, auto components, consumer durables, FMCG, core manufacturing & engineering sectors.

A comparison of TimesJobs data between May 2014- 2015 and May 2013-2014 shows that talent demand in manufacturing witnessed an average 1 per cent growth after the NDA came to power. Between May 2013 and May 2014, talent demand in manufacturing had reported an overall drop of 1 per cent.

“After May 2014, overall hiring activity across key sectors has revived including the big employers of the manufacturing and IT Sectors. With the government’s increased focus on digitizing India and the creation of Smart Cities, demand for technology professionals witnessed growth not just in core technology but also in manufacturing and allied sectors. This trend is likely to accelerate as companies adopt new technologies at a faster pace,” TimesJobs COO Vivek Madhukar said.

Digital India's effect on job creation

RecruiteX shows that the government’s Digital India push in IT/telecom, IT product, IT services, e-commerce and start-ups generated more talent demand than the Make in India campaign.

The above-mentioned sectors reported an average 3 per cent increase in talent demand between May 2014 and May 2015. This was when the overall jobs market reported an average increase of 2 per cent.

During the same period, other key sectors including manufacturing recorded growth below the industry average of 2 per cent.

RecruiteX also shows that the demand for IT professionals grew not only in core IT sectors but also in manufacturing sectors (automobile, consumer durables, and engineering), BFSI and BPO/ITES sectors.

Automobile, core manufacturing and engineering sectors showed an average 7 per cent increase in IT talent demand in y-o-y analysis (May 2014 to May 2015). BFSI, BPO/ITES, consumer durables and FMCG sectors recorded an 8 per cent rise in talent demand for IT professionals during the same period.