What Lies Ahead for the Indian Job Market in 2018?

For generations together, Indians have stood at the airport, said goodbye to their young sons and daughters as they witnessed the brain drain phenomena firsthand. Young Indians in search of better jobs and pay move to other countries, mainly the US. For years, we have had to let go of our best talent to other countries.

But the situation is slowly changing. With the government taking efforts to create more jobs, and initiatives like Make in India, we are slowly moving towards manufacturing more in India, thus, creating more employment opportunities for its citizens.

Entrepreneur India takes a look at the various factors that could affect the job industry in India.

A Positive Outlook

Naukri.com's report Hiring Outlook 2018 promises a bright year for Indians looking for jobs. According to the survey, 67 per cent of recruiters polled expect new jobs to be created during January-June 2018. The report also gave hope to freshers in the industry as about 52 per cent of the recruiters were looking forward to hiring employees who have 0-3 years of experience. The hiring trends seem to have an optimistic turn not just in the IT industry but also construction and engineering, banking and finance and automobiles.

Government's Efforts to Revive Jobs

The brain drain phenomenon has been no new guest to India. Accepting the situation, the Modi government has made way for PM Research Fellowships for students from colleges like IITs, IISERs and NITs. The scholarship is claimed to be India's most lavishly paid scholarships funded by the Government until now. Under the PMRF, students will be eligible for scholarships worth INR 70,000-80,000 along with an annual research grant of INR 2 lakh for select scholars. A total of INR 1,650 crore for the next three years has been set aside by the government for these fellows.

Job creation was also one of the highlights of the Union Budget 2018-19 address by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Most of the initiatives like the Ayushman Bharat programme (setting up of 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres) and the flagship National Health Protection Scheme, will enable employment in the country. Moreover, the government's decision to contribute 12% of the wages of the new employees in the EPF for all the sectors and to reduce women employees' contribution to 8% for first three years of their employment, will further boost the number of jobs in the economy.

The Trump Card

Another factor that might see a growth in the number of jobs in the country, is the H1B visa issue in the US. As many as 500,000 professionals could soon make their way back to India because of the proposal by President Trump's administration to bring in the new regulations aimed at rejecting H1B visa extensions. However, if the bill does manage to pass, it will also mean India will have to allocate these many jobs at the middle level as well as senior management.