Kolkata and Chennai may have been second to Mumbai and Delhi and often appear to be losing out to Bangalore and Hyderabad, but it seems the two laggards among the four big metros are catching up at last – in terms of confidence and job creation.
A recent survey by Teamlease, a Bangalore-based staffing solutions firm, shows that Chennai has recorded a 19 per cent increase in their employment outlook index and Kolkata posted the highest increase in the business outlook index at eight per cent.
The survey was conducted with human resources heads in companies across the country to judge their hiring needs for the April-June 2007 quarter and the findings were compared with the last two quarters.
The study has worked with four indices. Apart from the two mentioned above, the study also tracked an employment trend index and a business confidence index.
The employment outlook index, which has Chennai recording the highest growth (19 points) at 93, also shows Delhi dropping by 12 from 88 to 76 and Mumbai gaining three points to reach 93. Though Kolkata recorded a seven-point increase, it is still at a lowly 64 compared to the others.
However, Kolkata scored high on the business confidence index, with it going up from 85 to 93—never mind the Nandigram incident where police fired on people opposing land acquisitions for setting up of a Special Economic Zone. Even the Singur opposition to the proposed Tata Motors factory seems to have not had much adverse effect.
Mumbai remained at 97 where it was in the January-March quarter, but Delhi has dropped a big 15 points to 85 from 90. Bangalore too dropped from 97 to 89. Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad too recorded growth in business confidence.
Jobs, however, remain concentrated in the urban areas, with 95 per cent of the employers looking to hire from the metro cities and the class one cities. Only five per cent are keen to hire from smaller towns and out of that just one per cent is looking at hiring from the rural areas.
Mumbai remained at 97 where it was in the January-March quarter, but Delhi has dropped a big 15 points to 85 from 90. Bangalore too dropped from 97 to 89. Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad too recorded growth in business confidence.
Jobs, however, remain concentrated in the urban areas, with 95 per cent of the employers looking to hire from the metro cities and the class one cities. Only five per cent are keen to hire from smaller towns and out of that just one per cent is looking at hiring from the rural areas.