City jobs outlook rises by 16 index points

The employment outlook for the city has registered an increase of 16 index points during the April-June period on the back of robust growth in the healthcare and pharma sectors, a report by TeamLease Services has indicated.

Nationally, while Bangalore has recorded the maximum increase of the 23 points in the employment outlook index followed by Ahmedabad at 17 points.

In Kolkata, the healthcare and pharma sector has been marked as the largest contributor (22 points) to the employment outlook for the period under consideration, followed by the information technology sector. Last quarter, the infrastructure sector had been pegged as the backbone for job growth in the city by the same report.

“Typically, the traditional sector of healthcare and pharma is been seen as a big contributor and they have seen robust growth, in terms of percentage increase. This goes to show that job growth in Kolkata is not just based on the IT and ITes sector,” TeamLease Services vice president Rajesh AR said.

According to the report, the first quarter of 2010-11 is expected to witness a gradual return of aggressive hiring. As a result, the employment outlook countrywide for the quarter has jumped by 11 per cent to 58 per cent.

Among the sectors covered, there is an increase in index points in all sectors except infrastructure and telecom. Healthcare and pharma, with 72 points, has the highest index points followed by IT with 69 points) as the overall trend for the cities. Interestingly, the marketing and customer services segment has recorded the least hirings.

On the attrition front, during the last quarter Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata saw the highest attrition rates, even as Ahmedabad witnessed the lowest attrition levels.

Additionally, barring the entry level, the intention to hire has increased, especially across the middle tier.