Tag: ASSOCHAM

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Trends

Mumbai sees drop in hiring for telecom, marketing, advertising

With markets improving, hiring is on an upswing in other parts of the country but low in Mumbai and Chennai.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It seems that more jobs are available in the market, or rather, companies are willing to hire more talent, if a recent survey by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India) is anything to go by. The survey finds that hiring was on an upswing in sectors like telecom, marketing and advertising in the first half of year 2014 across the country, except in Mumbai and Chennai, which registered a drop in hiring.

“Post-Budget 2014, aided by investment friendly measures like Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) and prospects of easing of interest rates, the construction sector has also slightly improved in terms of hiring plans. The Budget focus on infrastructure has proved to be morale booster for the infrastructure but would still take time for on-the-ground action”, adds the ASSOCHAM survey.

Hiring in IndiaDeciphering the trend, DS Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM said, “While the industrial production growth has pleasantly surprised for May with the manufacturing showing signs of uptick, the employers would like to see a definite trend line before firming up their hiring plans. Somehow, the marketing and advertising remain in relevance even in difficult times with the only difference being that marketing requires hard sell”.

“Marketing and advertising professionals emerged as the next best in terms of demand profile during January to June 2014. On the other hand, manufacturing and automobile sectors reported stable hiring figures due to slowdown in the sales of vehicles and launch of new models,” adds the survey.

The inputs were tracked on a daily basis for vacancies posted by about 2,500 companies via job portals like timesjobs.com, naukari.com, monster.com, shine.com and others together with advertisements offering job opportunities published in national and regional newspapers across about 32 prominent cities and 20 sectors.

Who’s hiring the most?

Among the top locations, Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad reported the most active location during the January–June 2014. Some of the Tier-II and Tier-III locations (Surat, Vadodra, Nashik, Allahabad, Udaipur, Agra, Ajmer, Kota and Meerut) which have emerged as high growth markets, retained their position.

During January to June 2014, the demand for mid-level candidates was upbeat. However, the demand for talent at senior levels with 10-20 years and over 20 years of experience, recorded flat to negative activity across industries. It further shows that organizations are only looking to hire on demand, and hiring is restricted to niche skills. Focus is more on up-skilling available talent rather than sourcing fresh talent, reveals the ASSOCHAM latest estimates.

Telecom

As per the ASSOCHAM findings, Delhi-NCR region have recorded an impressive 54 per cent increase in hiring during January –June 2014 period followed by Bangalore at 38 per cent and Hyderabad, which reported a 32 per cent increase in hiring. On the other hand, Chennai and Mumbai reported a drop in hiring for the same period, recording a 15 per cent and 28 per cent drop, respectively.

BPO/ ITeS
The survey points out, the falling rupee has also helped the overall outlook of the ITeS industry in India, as outsourcing becomes a cheaper. Marketing and advertising profiles reported highest increase (48 per cent) in demand for talent. Customer service/Tele-calling profiles witnessed a drop of 8 per cent in demand during the same period. Hiring was upbeat for junior level candidates as the demand for the senior personnel came under pressure. However, those with skills in cutting edge technology stayed in demand.

Among top locations, Bangalore recorded a maximum growth (43 per cent) in hiring BPO/ ITeS professionals. Chennai reported highest drop (26 per cent) in demand during the period as compared to similar months last year. Candidates with experience of 2-5 and 5-10 years, reported maximum increase (22 per cent) in hiring in the BPO/ITeS industry. Candidates with over 20 years of experience saw highest drop (35 per cent) in demand in the BPO/ ITeS industry.

Consumer Durables/ FMCG
Consumer Durables/FMCG sector are expected to witness more than 10 per cent growth during this fiscal. Delhi-NCR (39 per cent) followed by Bangalore (37 per cent), Ahmedabad (23 per cent) witnessed a whopping 35 per cent increase in demand. Reasons for cities have picked up their hiring activity is because several chains are increasingly working towards expanding their businesses, and therefore talent requirement has gone up. Mumbai and Chennai, on the other hand, witnessed a negative demand for talent, a dip of 15 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively.

Banking, Financial services and Insurance (BFSI)

The Banking, Financial services and Insurance (BFSI) industry reported the highest growth in demand in the month of January 2014. The positive hiring movement in June (12 per cent) is significant, considering a major dip (16 per cent) February 2014, another dip in demand expected around fourth quarter.

Among the key locations, Delhi–NCR, Hyderabad witnessed maximum growth in demand (over 30 per cent) as compared to December 2013. In the insurance domain, demand for future hiring will be for frontline sales personnel with less than two years experience.

(Pictures courtesy indiatoday.intoday.in, zeenews.india.com)

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Kharcha paani Uncategorized

Vegetables prices up by 80% in two months

The retail and wholesale gap has reduced in two months in Mumbai, but is on an upswing in other places.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Just how expensive have vegetables become in the last two months? A recent study by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) maps out the exact numbers.

The ASSOCHAM study of 33 ‘mandies’ in India has revealed that during April to June 2014, the gap between the wholesale and retail prices of vegetables has increased by 80 per cent whereas retail prices in 10 centres has been to the extent of 30 per cent.

Releasing the study, ASSOCHAM says, it was also observed that on an average, retailers are selling vegetables at more than 48.8 per cent of wholesale prices and even in some centres, selling prices are at more than 51 per cent.

Vegetables in MumbaiThe study found that while cabbage retail and wholesale price gap has increased from 69.4% to 78.1%, brinjal 62.4% to 66.7%, cauliflower 59.0% higher than the wholesale price, chilly 56.2% to 62.6%, tomato 55.1% to 62% percent, garlic 52.4% to 54.2%, tomato hybrid 50% 58.2%, okra 49.5% to 58.7%, bitter gourd 48.6% to 50.7%, brinjal 45.9% to 56.7% peas and ginger 43.6% and 41.3% and onion increased from 35.3% percent to 48.1%.

The ASSOCHAM study further reveals that while Surat retail and wholesale price gap has increased from 49.7% to 50.8%, Lucknow 48.5% to 54.8%, Shimla 37.9% to 47.3%, Jammu 37.5% to 42.4%, Chennai 34.6% to 37.3%, Guwahati 33.7% to 37.3%, Amritsar 120.5% to 121.8%, Abohar 107.4% to 110.3%, Agra 90.2% to 93.6%, Nagpur 82.8% to 88.2%, Ahmedabad 69.4% to 96.1%, Delhi 68.9% to 83.4%, Chandigarh 68.5% to 73.9%, Dehradun 67.4%  to 63.3%, Jaipur 64.6%  to 62.7%, Mumbai 63.5% to 46.8%, Kolkata 60.8% to 69.5% Raipur 58.0% to 62.7%, Patna 57.2% to 65.4%, Ranchi 56.1% to 57.1%, Hyderabad 53.0% to 51.2%, Bangalore 51.8% to 59.2%,Kanpur 50.9% to 57.1%. 

ASSOCHAM Secretary General DS Rawat said, “The analyses are based on the wholesale price of vegetables and retail price of vegetables in the different markets in India. Wholesale price indicates the price at which retailers are buying from different markets and retail price is the price at which consumers are buying from retailers. The essential vegetables incorporated in the study are Bitter gourd, Brinjal long, Brinjal round, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Garlic, Ginger, Chilly, Okra, Onion, Peas, Potato, Tomato hybrid and Tomato local.”

On the other hand, the ASSOCHAM study has considered 33 market centers in India. The centers are Mumbai, Abohar, Agra, Ahmadabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Baraut, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Gangatok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Nagpur, Nasik, Patna, Pimpalgaon, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Shimla, Surat and Trivendrum.

The study has observed that most of the vegetables arrival have recorded declining trend except local tomato, potato fresh and onion (noticeably onion price during 2013-14 has recorded a  life time high). 

Onion arrival grew at a rate of 13.0 per cent during 2013-14 followed by tomato local grew at a rate of 7.9 per cent and potato fresh arrival grew at a rate of 6.2 per cent. Okra and Cauliflower arrival have recoded marginal growth rate of 0.4 percent and 1.9 per cent during the same period, mentioned the study.

(Pictures courtesy www.daijiworld.com, www.chinadaily.com.cn)

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Kharcha paani

Mangoes to cost more this season?

Fall in mango production by about 20 per cent owing to crop damage and rising exports will cause higher costs.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mango lovers may have to cough up more money this year due to short supply of mangoes for domestic consumption owing to significant crop damage and rising export orders pouring in from the UAE, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bangladesh and others.

This is as per an analysis by ASSOCHAM. “Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, which together account for about 2/3rd share in India’s total mango production, have recently witnessed nature’s wrath owing to unseasonal rains coupled with hailstorm. This has damaged over 50 per cent crop which is likely to hold up mango arrivals, resulting in upward spiraling of prices,” noted the analysis conducted by the Agri-business council of ASSOCHAM.

“Mango production across India in all likelihood will remain about 15-20 per cent lower than last year’s level of 18 million tonnes (MT) and even the exports are likely to remain muted this year,” said DS Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing the analysis. Clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over five per cent, the production of mangoes across India has increased from 13.9 MT in 2007-08 to 18 MT in 2012-13. Besides, the cultivated area and productivity have also grown at a CAGR of 2.6 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively during the aforesaid period.

Of over 1,300 varieties of mangoes grown across the world and India alone cultivates over 1,000 varieties of the fruit.

Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh together account for about half of the total mangoes being produced in India, with both the States accounting for almost similar share of over 24 per cent. Karnataka (10 per cent), Bihar (7.6 per cent) and Gujarat are amid top five states with high share in mangoes’ production across India.

The UAE is the top most export destination for India’s mangoes accounting for over 61 per cent share followed by the UK (12 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (five per cent). Qatar, Kuwait and Bangladesh are other leading export destinations for Indian mangoes.

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Trends

Mumbai losing call centre business to Philippines?

Mumbai and other Tier I cities are fast losing the voice and call centre business to Philippines, finds a study.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai has a sizeable number of call centre businesses – or so we think. If a recent study is to be believed, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai may be losing its BPOs and call centres to Philippines.

“India is currently losing about 70 per cent of all incremental voice and call centre business to competitors like Philippines and Eastern Europe, and unless the domestic BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry diversifies the delivery footprint to take advantage of low-cost centers, our competitors will further consolidate their position,” says the study conducted by KPMG and ASSOCHAM. 

“It is estimated that in the ongoing decade, India might lose about $30 billion in terms of foreign exchange earnings to Philippines which has become the top destination for Indian investors, thus the need to reduce costs and make operations leaner is increasingly becoming significant across the BPO industry,” said DS Rawat, Secretary General of ASSOCHAM while releasing the findings of the study.

Reportedly, even a number of Indian firms have also set up substantial operations in Philippines which has a large pool of well-educated, English-speaking, talented and employable graduates (about 30 per cent graduates in Philippines are employable unlike 10 per cent in India where the training consumes considerable amount of time).

“Employees in Philippine’s call centers speak English fluently with a neutral accent, which is what customers look for and that is something missing in Indian accents and that is a prime reason why BPO business is thriving in that country,” said Rawat. “Cultural proximity to the US together with availability of talented manpower are key reasons why BPO companies prefer expanding their operations in Philippines.”

Expansion of non-English BPOs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 centers, which can provide services to the telecom and aviation sectors at low costs, will increasingly play significant role in growth of domestic outsourcing industry, further noted the study.

“Lower attrition rate in smaller towns is a big positive owing to lower recruiting and training costs, while there is comparatively high attrition rate of 30-35 per cent in tier I cities,” said Rawat, quoting from the study. “Besides, even transportation costs for BPO employees and real estate prices in smaller cities are lower as compared to the metros.”

Cities like Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Jaipur, Kozhikode, Nagpur, Nashik, Palakkad and others can help meet 50-60 per cent of projected talent requirement of BPO industry over the next five years, the study added. In order to provide the content in local language there is need to address challenges of fonts, poor bandwidth and the sector specific need based services should be offered.

Besides, projects like the National e-governance Plan (NeGP), the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)  and other government projects are likely to give a fillip to the domestic BPO sector in smaller cities and towns if the industry is able to tap the talent successfully.

The decision to set up BPO centers in Tier 2 and 3 cities requires striking the right balance between all elements and a patient, long-term approach is the key, added the ASSOCHAM-KPMG study.

 (Picture courtesy thehindu.com)

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Kharcha paani

Mall tenants shifting from Mumbai to smaller cities

More mall tenants are moving to smaller cities, which promise better returns. Mumbai and other metros are seeing this trend.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai’s spiralling real estate costs and high inflation are jointly pummelling shopping mall tenants – they are now shifting out of pricey Mumbai and other metros’ malls for locations in Tier II and III cities, finds a recent survey by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India).

“Under pressure of high rentals and low footfalls, one-third of retail tenants at the shopping malls in the large cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata are shifting in tier-II and III cities like Nagpur, Jaipur, Pune, Indore, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Chandigarh among other such cities,”, the survey reveals. Titled ‘Shopping malls increasingly losing shine in big cities’, the trend survey adds that as per estimates, roughly 300 to 350 malls came up in the country over the last two years but 75 to 80 per cent of the spaces in these malls lie vacant. Around the same time, as many as 95 malls have shut shop, according to the survey.

shopping in Mumbai“The major three core benefits for the retailer-tenants to move to smaller cities are lower operational costs and comparatively lesser competition and the novelty value still left in these areas where even the nearby rural population is thronging the air-conditioned halls and getting the taste of comfortable shopping,” says Rana Kapoor, President, ASSOCHAM.

Other such cities where mall-based retailers are moving include Goa, Kochi, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Mysore, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Surat and they still hold more potential for growth. “High cost of operation, economic slowdown and wearing down of the novelty [associated with malls] have all combined to reduce the number of foot falls in the malls in big cities. One of the main reasons for the high rentals in the big city malls is the exorbitant land prices and high development costs. Thus, in the foreseeable future, making such malls profitable ventures will remain a challenge,” said Kapoor.

In Tier II and tier III cities, there is greater scope for growth.  Also, larger chunks of land are available in these cities compared with metros, and at lower cost. The shopping trends in metro cities have influenced the consumer behaviour in Tier II and III cities that are now witnessing a major shift from conventional trader-run standalone shops to larger format retail malls.

The trend can be attributed to factors like the dynamic change in the shopping trend, average spending power of the socio-economic classes in the Tier II to VI cities, demand of various products under one roof, increase in brand consciousness are a few factors that multi-brand discount franchising stores drives on, adds the ASSOCHAM survey.

(Pictures courtesy gyaandarpan.com, www.hg2mumbai.com. Images are used for representational purpose only)

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Trends

IT, pharma, banking will generate more jobs in 2014

Survey says that IT will remain the biggest draw as the US economy recovers and American firms increase their spends.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The job market slowed down considerably in 2013, but things are not so bleak in 2014. As per a survey by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India), Information Technology (IT), pharmaceuticals, agri-based industries, banking and agri-related industries such as farm equipment and fertilisers and seeds will remain the largest employment generation sectors in 2014.

“These sectors will stand out despite the fact that the present state of the economy, where in a large majority of sectors, net employment is being lost and does not support large scale employment,” the study said. But, thanks to the recovery in the US economy, IT will remain the net aggregator of jobs in 2014. The US economy is showing signs of improvement which was also reflected in the Federal Reserve announcing the tapering calendar of its USD 85 billion a month bond-buying programme.

A large number of American firms are expected to increase their IT spend as consumer sales pick up there. Over 60 per cent of the India’s 75 billion software and service exports are dependent on the US market.

The other reason for the IT sector to stay fit and keep hiring is the continuous pressure on Indian currency, which results in their net income rising.

But the pace of hiring may, however, not be strong since the haze of uncertainty still remains, forcing company promoters to remain conservative in adding to the headcount. Top end IT firms and consulting firms will remain active in campus recruitments in the year 2014. Over and above the recruitment at the freshers’ level, the IT sector will see a lot of hiring and the professionals moving in and out as the top-end firms want to build capabilities to move up the value chain in the wake of rising competition in low-end services, though the sales volume would continue to come from this segment.

“Since our economy still remains a good mix of organised and unorganised, large corporates and small enterprises, a large number of people in rural India dependent on agriculture and the tertiary industries,  there are inherent and inbuilt strengths which come handy when the chips are down,” ASSOCHAM president Rana Kapoor said.

Pharmaceutical is an ever-green sector and is least affected by the economic downturns since it is related to the healthcare.  While people may cut their budget on nutritional segments, they need to spend anyhow on basic healthcare.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry, largely thriving on the generic segment, is well spread out in India and abroad, deriving sales from all over the world. This sector will continue to hire. However, because of some setbacks and tightening regulations in the US and some other markets, the companies will have to invest more in improving their manufacturing and R&D facilities making them at par with the global standards. The recruitment from the pharmaceuticals sector would remain active, though the aggregate number would be much smaller than the IT sector.

Banks, particularly in the public sector have found that 2013 has been one of the most challenging years for them. The non-performing assets have zoomed with the Reserve Bank and the Finance Ministry raising serious concerns over the high level of stressed assets. However, the year 2014 is expected to be a better year for the banking. The NPAs would be reduced since the focus is very much there on the issue and there are signs of recovery in some segments of the economy. Besides, a huge number of backlog vacancies have to be filled up in the public sector banks.

For the private sector, new licences likely to be given before April , will throw new opportunities. While the new banks will leverage technology, job opportunities will arise both in the brick and mortar as also in development and implementation of the technology solutions.

(Picture courtesy www.expatica.com)

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