Temping gathers pace in India

Temporary staffing is the new mantra for India Inc, as fears of an impending unemployment explosion mount and global trends in work change r...

Temporary staffing is the new mantra for India Inc, as fears of an impending unemployment explosion mount and global trends in work change rapidly. ‘Temps,’ or temporary workers who stay on the payroll of a temp-staffing company, may even create a women-worker force.

‘‘In India, the perception is that temporary staffing means hire-and-fire. But it is known that Contract Act reforms can create 12 million new temp jobs in five years. Globally, 40 per cent of such temps find permanent jobs within a year,’’ says Manish Sabharwal, chairman, TeamLease, an HR and staffing mnc.

Strong demand for temps is expected from BPOs, which currently employ 4 lakh skilled and unskilled people. ‘‘For a sector that picks up 20,000-25,000 people a month, temporary staffing cannot be left unexplored,’’ says Rajiv Puri, ex-COO, JobsAhead.com.

A Nasscom survey reveals that globally, 15-20 per cent of BPO employees are temps, but only 5 per cent in Indian BPOs. In a white paper on India’s Labour Market, TeamLease Services finds that there are only 0.08 million temporary staffers in India. ‘‘The percentage of temporary staff employment is at 0.01 per cent here, compared with close to 10 per cent in some countries,’’ says Sabharwal.