The Indian economy continues to expand. As a corollary of rapid economic expansion more jobs are available today than before, particularly in the manufacturing sector.
Most Indian leaders see the growth of the manufacturing sector as a solution for unemployment and underemployment across the country. Demand in the developed world for manufactured goods has led more than one exporting nation to lift millions of its citizens out of poverty.
In spite of the rise in automation, leaders and intellectuals in India, believe that a manufacturing-led export-driven growth model is a way to superior economic growth.
Industries are creating more jobs than ever before: Potentially, within seven years the size of the manufacturing sector in India may generate huge revenues. Be it in manufacturing, construction or mining, new jobs are being created in India and the pace of new job growth is expected to continue rising.
Hence the employment landscape is already being transformed into one, which generates jobs in relatively higher paying manufacturing industries. Since the liberalisation of the Indian economy in the early 1990’s, a third of the new jobs have been created in the construction sector.
Manufacturing to pave the way to future prosperity: Manufacturing create products by using raw materials or components. Over the next 5 to 7 years, millions of new jobs are expected to be created in the domestic manufacturing sector.
Indian economists believe that the manufacturing sector will comprise of a quarter of the size of the Indian economy by 2025. Currently, manufacturing’s share in the Indian economy is approximately 16 per cent.
The largest number of jobs that will be created may be low paying unskilled or semiskilled jobs that nonetheless, for innumerable diligent and enterprising young workers, could pay the way for a financially rewarding and personally fulfilling career. The creation of a large number of such jobs will help move millions of Indians into the middleclass.
High value manufacturing jobs exist today: However what is truly exciting is that a significant number of jobs in this sector require much technical expertise, which comes after years of education and training.
Graduates and mechanical engineers and those with post-graduate degrees today have ample opportunity to thrive in this field in India.
An expanding domestic manufacturing sector will lead to the creation of many more such well-paying jobs that will be able to employ young Indians for decades to come.
Specifically, there are attractive jobs for engineers and for those with advanced degrees in production management and quality testing.
Furthermore, today there also many ancillary jobs in areas such as procurement, storage, supply chain, finance and accounting and the availability of such jobs will also increase in the future.
Manufacturing industries have created tertiary jobs: Job opportunities today extend beyond simple assembly line manufacturing jobs. Many white collar jobs have been created by the manufacturing industry in tertiary industries such as customer support and management.
Much of the demand for skilled engineers, draftsmen, programmers, electricians and technicians is being created by the manufacturing industry in India.
Furthermore, rising consumer expectations have led manufacturers to take quality initiatives and hire production experts who ensure finished products meet quality standards.
Indian manufacturers have also realised the need for quick and efficient customer service, which has led to the direct creation of numerous support and backend jobs.
PPE’s in era of manufacturing led growth: As the manufacturing sector expands, even more people will be employed in the innumerable factories and workshops that will manufacture products in India.
After the creation of new and varied jobs in hazardous manufacturing environments, the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) will also grow.
Already most large and small Indian manufacturers recognise the importance of worker safety and so there is great demand for PPE across India. The manufacturers of personal protective equipment are themselves, manufacturers.
As the number of factories and industries grows in India, the size of the PPE manufacturing sector will also grow. Manufacturers of safety equipment create safety products that are in great demand by those in the construction and mining industries.
The buying and selling of these equipments have also created numerous new jobs. For the next few decades, the number of jobs created by manufacturers of PPE will increase in lockstep with the increase in the number of manufacturing jobs in India.
The writer is general manager, HR and Publicity & Promotion, Karam Industries.