GST Roll Out May Create 7.5 Lakh To 10 Lakh Jobs In Next 2 To 3 Years

With the coming of goods and services tax (GST), the job market is trying to get its mojo back. Recruiters are pegging that job market will dole out lakhs of job openings in the coming months. According to HR solutions provider, PeopleStrong, about 10 lakh jobs are expected to be created in next two to three years due to the GST push. "We are expecting GST to create 7.5 lakh to 10 lakh jobs in next two to three years," Pankaj Bansal, CEO, PeopleStrong told BW Businessworld.

Another estimate by recruiting firm says that GST implementation is likely to create about one lakh jobs, immediately. "On an estimation, it looks like it will create more than one lakh jobs immediately from the first quarter from the implementation date. Another 50,000 to 60,000 jobs will be created for specific activities for GST going forward in various sectors including formal sectors like IT, ITEs, e-commerce and manufacturing," Sunil Goel, managing director of Global Hunt, a recruitment firm told BW Businessworld.  

Recruiting firms have noticed an upsurge in the demand for the professionals who understand GST and could help in keeping organisations tax complaint. "The upcoming tax regime is expected to stimulate the job creation in the manufacturing sector, the focus of Make In India," said Gopal Krishna Agarwal, National Spokesperson for Economic Issues, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). "The estimates on millions of job openings aren't baseless as the objective of GST is to rev up economic growth and job market."

Headhunters are bullish over job creation in sectors such as e-commerce and automobiles. "In the next three years, jobs will be created particularly in automobiles, logistics, e-commerce and construction. There will be an increase of about 10 to 12% in job creation in these sectors," said Bansal.

As per the official data from labour ministry, mere 1.55 lakh jobs were created in 2015 and 2.31 lakh in 2016 -- the lowest levels since the 10 lakh jobs created by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2009. India has created just 2.31 percent (jobs) of the total jobs required, last year.