Upswing in Auto Sector hiring

The job index maintained by Naukri.com, the empoyment portal, shows a significant rise in hiring by the automobile sector over the past year.

Their job index touched 917 last month, compared to 621 in December 2009 and 523 in December 2008. It showed, Delhi generates about 32 per cent of jobs in the sector, followed by Tamil Nadu with 20 per cent and Pune with 19 per cent.

The index began tracking jobs in the sector from July 2008 and there was a sudden dip of 29 per cent in the month of December 2008, said V Suresh, executive vice president and national head of sales for the portal. "This has been the highest monthly dip for the sector till date. In January 2009, the index dipped to an all-time low of 512 as compared to 523 in December 2008. Thus, low hiring sentiment and a jittery job scenario prevailed for the sector all through the first half of 2009," he said.

There was some recovery from July 2009 but strong hiring trends were only seen from February this year. The index for February 2010 clocked growth of 24 per cent over the previous month. The hiring momentum has been steady since then, with the August 2010 index surpassing the 900-mark for the first time since January 2009. August had also seen an all-time high in monthly car sales.

Now, with auto sales zooming, manufacturers are cranking up their capacities and car models, resulting in strong hiring trends across functions, said Suresh.