In an exclusive webinar on GTI, Mr. Rahul Banerjee helped in giving us all clarity on how the economy is likely to progress.
Mr. Banerjee has more than 16 years of experience in Public Policy, Corporate Affairs, Government Relations, Government Business & External Communication. He is a Strategist on Policy Advocacy with Central & State Ministries, Trade bodies, Chambers of Commerce, Bilateral & Multilateral Entities. His domain also includes Crisis Communication Strategist with External Stakeholders and Corporate Strategist. He has immense exposure in large scale Public-Private Partnership Projects & Government Business. He is also a Member of FICCI & Other Chambers Committees. On personal front, he loves traveling, singing, reading, and creating his own space and design own journey. He has visited over more than 30 countries till date.
Mr. Banerjee is the Vice President and Head of corporate affairs at Quess Corp which is a public listed company with the largest number of employees under its banner, which comes to a whopping 3.9 million employees. He today in an exclusive webinar at GTI, deliberated on NEW JOBS, opportunity in post lockdown economy.
He dealt with the burning question head-on. What are the new employment opportunities and what will the economy be like post lockdown? He started by quoting one of his favorite books, an autobiography of Jack Ma, ‘When you close your mouth for a long period, your eyes will begin to do the talking’. Considering the current predicament, the Indian economy is likely to be affected and so is the world’s economy. The exports, imports, and unemployment levels have taken a hit, along with the fall in GST collections and PMI. These are some of the direct impacts of COVID on the Indian economy which is likely to have a GDP growth of 1.9% this year.
The unemployment level in India has been on a rise over the years and in the current scenario, this unemployment issue is going to turn for the worse. Hiring activity has already fallen by 62% and the general employment status in the agriculture sector is 43.21%, the manufacturing sector is 24.88% and the service sector is 31.9%. The overall unemployment level has reached 27% in the current month and some of the most affected industries are the automobile industry (which was already having a downward slope before the Covid19), cement, retail, hospitality, construction, and real estate industry.
He further explained saying that despite the fall of many industries, some had a good possibility to boom in the future. Given below are the sector-wise job opportunities post lockdown:
- IT & ITES sector – Expected growth – 3-5%.
This sector is most likely to prosper because work from home can be well incorporated in this in addition to the new favorable government regulations
Job opportunities – AI expert, cybersecurity experts, cloud computing experts, remote working experts, ethical hackers
- Health care (offline/online) – Expected growth – 14.4%
The current pandemic showed the lack of public health infrastructure which will lead to heavy investment and development of the healthcare sector.
Job opportunities – doctors, nurse, technicians, pharmacist, health insurance specialist, healthcare marketing
- E-commerce – Expected growth – 13%
In the current circumstances, a new sector of product-specific sites has a lot of scopes. It can employee both blue- and white-collar jobs
Job opportunity – supply chain manager, warehouse manager, station support staff
- Digital media & entertainment – Expected growth – 15-20%
The new lifestyle has changed the habit of urban Indians and has increased the want to be entertained. This has been made easier with the increase in the bandwidth of the internet.
Job opportunities – sector-specific technical specialist, both offline and online marketing specialist
- Facility management – Expected growth – 20%
There is a demand for new-age techno-based soft and hard facility, and diversified geographical outreach
Job opportunities – blue and white-collar jobs, service engineers, management and financial professionals
Mr. Banerjee very rightly pointed out that work from home does have its perks of comfort but there are some things we must keep in mind to maintain a professional environment. Some basic ethics must be followed such as avoiding distractions, minimizing background noise, refraining from casual dressing, and keeping sensitivity. To have an efficient work from home one must pay more attention to having good communication with as few barriers as possible and developing a sense of trust among the client and other members.
He also threw a little light on the advantages of a GIG economy, its flexible work, and the ability to work with multiple clients and businesses. As of now, there are 3 million GIG workers in 189 platform companies valued at $4.5 trillion. It also helps to balance work and family and is a great opportunity for freelancers.
Mr. Banerjee gave a few tips on how to be ready for the upcoming situation:
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- Having a good Social media presence
- Developing a good resume
- Preparing for telephonic interviews
- Keeping track of major job sites
- Keeping references ready
He concluded the webinar on a very relevant quote for the current time by Winston Churchill.
The Q&A session
Q1. What are the metrics to be considered when you are in a professional career and you do not possess the technical knowledge? How will sales as a profession unfold in the future?
It is necessary to keep learning. If we do not possess certain skills that we know could help us in the future, we must look into training programs, online courses, on-job learning, etc. Sales and marketing as departments often overlap in India in comparison to other countries. Soon they might even merge. Sales personnel would then have market research and strategist role to play too.
Q2. Start-ups are facing the brunt of pandemic and fear no visibility of the future for them. How would this pandemic affect them?
It will be quintessential to get finances and the right people on board. Start-ups like 1MG which is an online medical store are types of sustainable business. For such business, there is a possibility to get funds, while for the others it might be a little difficult in the coming days. The businesses might have to tweak their model by changing it from urban to rural. Loss of job could happen, however, in all it is necessary to have an optimistic outlook.
Q3. Should India invest more in R&D or IT products to have as a backup during these hard times that it can fall back on? Example – Paytm during the time of demonetization helped immensely
Whether an IT or non IT product, India does lack in R&D. Most of India’s contribution to the world platform is via services. Hence, we must develop and focus on the product to have breakthroughs.
Q4. When would the current fall in the employment in MSME sector get better?
There are a lot of issues about funding issues, manufacturing issues, and migrant workers. It will approximately take 2 quarters for the MSME sector to get back to its old stage. Technology-based labour intensive method would most likely be the next innovation in terms of this sector as they are beginning to understand the importance of AI. Most rural sectors are in green zones at present where E-commerce can deliver anything. All the new industries will now be looking at rural India because that is the only working market. The next market potential is rural and many sectors such as telecommunication have already begun to understand that.
GTI thank Mr. Rahul Banerjee for taking time out of his heavy schedule and imparting knowledge with us.
Stay tuned to GTI for such inspirational and knowledgeable content.
