Needed: More and more men of steel
The steel industry is witnessing a recruitment boom thanks to numerous plans of capacity expansion.
By Prince Mathews Thomas, TNN |
MUMBAI: Professionals in the metals sector never had it this good. With an increase in capacity-expansions by existing companies and a rise in the number of proposed plants, the industry is witnessing a recruitment boom. The hiring pace has grown sharply by about 20%, much larger than the growth of 10% that was the norm five years back.
The rush for recruitment is partly thanks to the more than Rs 320,000 crore investment that is likely to be spent in the industry over the next 10 years. Even if one goes by the thumb rule — every million tonne of ferrous and non-ferrous capacity generates at least 700 jobs — the steel sector alone will see a windfall. Companies such as Korea’s Posco, Tata Steel and JSW Steel have announced investments of Rs 262,000 crore to increase capacities by about 120m tonnes by ’20.
With so much activity, there is little wonder that the initial signs have already started. Attrition levels in this old economy sector has started matching the glamorous IT sector, with officials from the top five Indian steel companies estimating the attrition rate to be about 18%, compared to less than 10% till five years back.
“The times are changing...earlier people who got a job in a public sector steel company left only after retiring,” said a senior executive with the state-owned SAIL. “Now there are many opportunities for steel professionals.”
Mittal Steel, the world’s largest steel company, has announced plans to set up a 12m tonne steel company in Jharkhand. Tata Steel, which currently has a capacity of 5m tonnes, aims to increase its size to about 15m tonnes through expansions and acquisitions.
As with every recruitment story, poaching is also growing. The phenomenon is becoming very common with SAIL becoming the favourite hunting ground. JSW Steel recently roped in Rajendra Prasad Singh to head its Jharkhand steel project. Mr Singh was the managing director of SAIL’s Bhilai Steel. Sanak Mishra, another senior SAIL executive and the managing director of its Rourkela unit, recently joined the Mittal group. Dr Mishra is heading Mittal Steel’s Jharkhand project. Mr Mittal’s preference for SAIL executives is well known, with most of his top executives coming from the state-owned steel behemoth.
The pace of recruitment is also being seen at other companies. The Sajjan Jindal-managed JSW Steel is learnt to have recruited about 50 middle-level professionals in the past three months alone. The group had recently appointed Sandeep Gokhale as a business development director of its aluminium division. Mr Gokhale was earlier with Sterlite Industries, the flagship company of the London-listed Vedanta Resources.
The rush for recruitment is partly thanks to the more than Rs 320,000 crore investment that is likely to be spent in the industry over the next 10 years. Even if one goes by the thumb rule — every million tonne of ferrous and non-ferrous capacity generates at least 700 jobs — the steel sector alone will see a windfall. Companies such as Korea’s Posco, Tata Steel and JSW Steel have announced investments of Rs 262,000 crore to increase capacities by about 120m tonnes by ’20.
With so much activity, there is little wonder that the initial signs have already started. Attrition levels in this old economy sector has started matching the glamorous IT sector, with officials from the top five Indian steel companies estimating the attrition rate to be about 18%, compared to less than 10% till five years back.
“The times are changing...earlier people who got a job in a public sector steel company left only after retiring,” said a senior executive with the state-owned SAIL. “Now there are many opportunities for steel professionals.”
Mittal Steel, the world’s largest steel company, has announced plans to set up a 12m tonne steel company in Jharkhand. Tata Steel, which currently has a capacity of 5m tonnes, aims to increase its size to about 15m tonnes through expansions and acquisitions.
As with every recruitment story, poaching is also growing. The phenomenon is becoming very common with SAIL becoming the favourite hunting ground. JSW Steel recently roped in Rajendra Prasad Singh to head its Jharkhand steel project. Mr Singh was the managing director of SAIL’s Bhilai Steel. Sanak Mishra, another senior SAIL executive and the managing director of its Rourkela unit, recently joined the Mittal group. Dr Mishra is heading Mittal Steel’s Jharkhand project. Mr Mittal’s preference for SAIL executives is well known, with most of his top executives coming from the state-owned steel behemoth.
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The pace of recruitment is also being seen at other companies. The Sajjan Jindal-managed JSW Steel is learnt to have recruited about 50 middle-level professionals in the past three months alone. The group had recently appointed Sandeep Gokhale as a business development director of its aluminium division. Mr Gokhale was earlier with Sterlite Industries, the flagship company of the London-listed Vedanta Resources.
Industry experts say that the trend is likely to last. “Recruitment is based on the rate of expansion,” says Aditya Birla group’s human resources director Santrupt Mishra. “In the late 90s, acquisition was the main growth mode and there was not much recruitment. Now numerous projects are coming up, ” he added. The Aditya Birla group is likely to increase its recruitment drive. Its flagship company, Hindalco Industries, will need to recruit at least 6,000 professionals for its upcoming Rs 11,000-crore Orissa project alone,” said Mr Mishra.
There is also the flexibility option. “With projects coming up in Orissa, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, many executives now have the option to work closer to home,” says Ispat Industries president (human resources) Pradeep Pande. “Moreover, multinational companies value the experience here and executive movement to overseas has also been seen.”
Little wonder, that it is becoming a common practice for steel companies to place ads in classifieds, the latest being Essar Steel, which wants more specialists in mining and processing, pelletising and steel making.
“The highest demand is for those experienced in projects, maintenance and operations. The junior level executives are being bombarded with offers promising 100% hike,” said an industry analyst.
Interestingly, the fun has only started. “Many of the projects are only in the initial stage. Once mega projects of Posco and Tata Steel take shape, there is bound to be more bloodshed,” said an official from a leading steel company.
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