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Hospitality overtakes IT in job creation: MEtS 2008 survey

To create one million new jobs this year

Andrea Lopez - Mumbai

The Ma Foi Employment Survey, (MEtS), conducted by Ma Foi Management Consultants, a leading HR staffing and solutions provider, has announced its annual findings for the Indian hospitality segment in 2008. The findings have revealed that the hospitality sector generated 6,169,211 jobs in 2007, and the number is projected to increase to 6,595,879 in 2008. This is a significant number, more so since the sector has overtaken IT in the number of jobs it has created. K Pandia Rajan, managing director, Ma Foi Management Consultants said, "Employment for 2008 will grow by 3.05 per cent from 2007, with the hospitality sector showing one of the highest growth rates (6.9 per cent). Other organised sectors including health and IT will also show accelerated growth, but we believe that hospitality is likely to recruit the maximum number of employees. This also remains one of the most policy-dependent sectors."

Interestingly, sectors like food production and beverage have shown a shrinkage; with growth having dipped by 5.64 per cent. Rajan remarked, "India is likely to have around 40 international hotel brands by 2011. We have seen a high degree of cascading in terms of average room rates as well. With the demand continuing to surge, many global hospitality majors have expressed keen interest in the Indian hospitality sector."

The findings also revealed that the intake of freshers in the hospitality sector was higher compared to other industries (33.9 per cent). This is part of its research conducted in 22 sectors across 2006 units in all major industry segments across the country. On the whole, MEtS predicts that 1 million jobs will be created in India in 2008 - an increase of three per cent over the previous year.