India Inc.’s record profits for the first quarter of 2006 may have taken censure from the soaring prices of crude oil, but other reports seem to promise good news for employment. Though economic reports look with trepidation at the decrease of growth outlook from ’significantly optimistic’ to ‘moderately optimistic,’ the growth report from Q1 reveals that the majority of the setbacks were taken by the oil companies themselves, with the net profit growth of all non-oil companies being 27.67%, a much stronger showing than the average including the oil companies of ‘only’ 21.46%.

Because despite concerns over interest rates and oil prices, the bottom line for the Indian people is that India Inc. experienced an sizeable expansion in employment, in contrast to past efforts to reduce its workforce. Aggregate employment in 100 large companies considered the ‘big brothers of India Inc.’ has grown 7.2% in ’05-06, marking a change from 6.41 lakh in ’04-05 to 6.88 lakh.

The future for further employment growth also appears bright. The rise in employment is not the only impressive growth generated; the companies saw a rise in labour productivity, as well. This is sensational in part because a rise in employment is often associated with a drop in productivity, neccessitating a round of hiring new employees. But as this new burst came on the heels of high productivity and further increased the per labour value of output, it seems to be a promising trend.

Meanwhile, other industries have experienced similar growth. The engineering sector, represented by the six engineering companies, experienced an increase in employment of 5.7% and a labour productivity increase of 26.3%. Aggregate employment in eight drug and pharmaceutical companies has witnessed growth of 7.6% and the traditional textile industry also grew by 5.7%.

Meanwhile, plans were unveiled last month for Wal-Mart to begin setting up two liason offices in India. Though the offices cannot yet participate in business transactions, their long-term goals seem to be incorporation into India’s flourishing retail sector. Along with other businesses such as Dell, whose continued investment in an Indian workforce has recently culminated in a new production plant that should be opened by the end of 2006, employment prospects are bright on all horizons.

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