Growth in job opportunities in NE states on an upswing: study

The Northeastern states are, of late, witnessing an upsurge in hiring trends and are fast emerging as new job hotspots. A TimesJobs survey reflects that the automobile, IT-software, consumer durables, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sectors are driving job growth in the region. Data indicates people of Northeast are likely to earn more in their hometowns than in metros in similar job profiles.A 5 to 30 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth rate in talent demand had been seen in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim , said the report.

"The Prime Minister's focus on the region coupled with improving interstate infrastructure and telecommunications are providing a strong impetus to economic development and job growth in the Northeast. With a young and an ambitious, well-educated population it is quite possible that the Northeast is going to be the new ITeS (Information Technology enabled Services) and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) hub of India." said Vivek Madhukar, chief operating officer of TimesJobs.com

The findings refute the perception that Northeast does not offer good employment opportunities. In fact, the percentage growth in demand for talent in the eight states is higher than that in the metro cities according to the report.

In the average year-on-year analysis, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim have reported growth rates in the range of 5-30 per cent for talent demand. In comparison, the top five metros reported an average growth of just 2 per cent in the same period.

Manipur is leading the demand for talent with 21 per cent growth in demand for talent as compared to last year. According to TimesJobs.com data for the state, there are more jobs available in the salary bracket of Rs 15-25 lakh as compared to the Rs 4 lakh plus salary bracket. The demand is almost four to five times higher and is driven by automobile, IT-software, consumer durables, FMCG and BFSI sectors.

Arunachal Pradesh is another major gainer with an average y-o-y growth of 19 per cent in talent demand among the eight states.

In a state-wise analysis, Nagaland and Tripura recorded an average y-o-y growth of 17 and 12 per cent, respectively. In both states, telecom, IT-software and insurance sectors are driving the demand. Professionals with 2-5 years experience are the most sought after.