Temp jobs gain ground, may rise to 14m in 5 yrs

NEWDELHI: Temping or temporary staffing has entered India. With more than 60% of India’s unemployed being youth, temp jobs — which constitute almost 5% of the labour force in some countries — is seen as a godsend.

The finance minister P Chidambaram who launched a private service, TemaLease Services here today, said that there was need for flexibility in Indian labour laws as markets were expanding and becoming global in nature.

Launching India’s first temporary (temp) employment network TLNet at Www.teamlease.com, Mr Chidambaram said that “temping� would help employers keep pace with the upturns and downturns in business cycles while employees would be able to build skills and become more employable.

TeamLease Services, a Bangalore based firm which has already employed 10,000 people — placed across the country in 200 locations, 25 industries and handling 20 different functions. The inaugural function was attended by labour minister Sis Ram Ola and information and broadcasting minister, S Jaipal Reddy.

Manish Sabharwal, chairman, TeamLease said that while the government’s focus on investments and growth would provide long term solutions to unemployment, some tweaking of the labour market would also help. “It may be time to legitimise the many alternatives to organised permanent employment that has stagnated at 30 million for 30 years in India,� he pointed out.

He urged the government to come out with a private employment agency act — with focus on white collar staffing — promising to raise the current 50,000 white-collar temp jobs to 14 million in five years, provided there was an enabling regulatory environment.