Jobs galore in infrastructure sector

If you think that job opportunities are limited to the emerging sectors, your are wrong. Come 2006, the infrastructure sector "" including steel, cement, oil, coal and power "" will see a high of 35 per cent growth rate in recruitment, says an HR report by recruitment firm Elixir Web Solutions.

"While the current recruitment rate is about 20 per cent in the sector, the expected rise may happen in early to middle of next year," said Vipul Prakash, partner, Elixir.

"From a period when IT, BPO and ITeS jobs totally grabbed employment ads, a resurgent old economy seems to be coming into its own again," he added. Indicating this, income levels have already gone up by 20 per cent in the sector.

The recruitment corresponds to the huge investment plans announced by these segments. The steel industry alone, for instance, has seen project announcements worth Rs 2, 62,000 crore that will increase capacities to 155 million tonne by 2020.

"According to the thumb rule, every million tonne of addition generates at least 700 jobs," says Abanindra Misra, vice-president, HR, Tata Steel. Moreover, "With increased automation, the demand now would be more for highly skilled, technical sound manpower," says a senior HR official at Essar Steel.

And that is just inside the plant. A multi-billion dollar steel project also includes development of almost all spheres of infrastructure, adding more jobs.