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Job aspirants see glimmer of hope as companies pledge to invest in U.P.
Massive investments are likely to generate thousands of jobs in the state and youths from several districts are closely following the developments.
LUCKNOW More than 2,000 years ago, ancient Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca famously said, “Success is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. And opportunities finally seem to be knocking the doors of job aspirants in Uttar Pradesh, where investors from across India and abroad have pledged to invest over ₹21 lakh crore in the run-up to the Global Investors’ Summit.
This massive investment is likely to generate thousands of jobs in the state and youths from several districts are closely following the developments to figure out which companies are planning to arrive (or expand) in U.P. and what kind of work opportunities would be coming their way.
“The prospect of several companies coming to the state is undoubtedly exciting. I was working in the pharma sector but lost my job during the Covid phase. Since then, I have been working as an Ola driver. So, if some good opportunity emerges in the sector, I will surely apply for the position and hire a driver for my cab. This way, I will draw a monthly salary and have a passive income source too,” said Kumar Saurabh Jaiswal, a native of Basti.
Irfan Ali from Maharajganj, who nurtures a similar hope, said, “I bagged a job in New Delhi before the pandemic but the company couldn’t afford many of us after the lockdown. Being an MBA graduate, I will be carefully looking at the opportunities that emerge through this summit. I sincerely wish that these companies get all government help in setting up their plants in U.P. so we don’t have to wait longer.”
The investment pledges have also kindled excitement among college students. Vatsala Shukla, a native of Sitapur, said, “I am currently pursuing BTech from a Lucknow-based private college. I and my batch-mates are hopeful that at least some of these companies would hire through campus placement drives. Getting a work opportunity in your home state is a big deal, especially for women who don’t wish to go far away from home.”
An opportunity to overcome unemployment
A careful analysis of investment proposals and MoUs reveals that the major sectors that are set to record the lion’s share of the cash inflow include green energy, automobile and industry 4.0, among others. Talking about his hiring plans, A Gururaj, MD, Optiemus Electronics, said, “We already have two state-of-the-art manufacturing units in Noida and are looking to expand in U.P. itself. So, we are looking to double our workforce from existing 2,500 in the next few years.”
Similarly, Sandeep Trehan, president of marketing & business development at THINK Gas, said, “Our company has made investments close to ₹130 crore in Baghpat. We have provided employment opportunities to over 1,000 people from diverse backgrounds. THINK Gas hires both skilled and semi-skilled workers, including labourers, technicians, engineers, etc and upskills them.”
Notably, a 2022 report by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) pegged the unemployment rate in U.P. at 3.9%, which is far better than the national average of 7.7%. However, sceptics questioned the estimates when around 3.8 million job aspirants turned up for Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Selection Commission Preliminary Eligibility Test, packing almost all the railway and bus stations in the state. Even if one goes by the report, an unemployment rate of 3.9% essentially means millions of unemployed youths in nominal terms as U.P. is the most populous state in the country.
Elaborating on the significance of job opportunities for U.P’s growth, Ghaziabad-based senior business management professor Dr Abhinav Priyadarshi Tripathi said, “The proposed investment could bring in a lot of direct and indirect job opportunities. This assumes great significance as people within the age bracket of 20-50 years are the biggest contributors to any economy and it’s a national loss when this populace underperforms. As is often the case, a rise in the unemployment rate also leads to a spike in the crime rate. The generation of jobs would not just uplift the state but actually, the entire nation.”
