With Covid cases taking a nosedive and more people are being vaccinated, the economy is also likely to improve as hundreds of MNCs, KPOs and BPOs across the national capital region are supposed to re-open and start functioning like pre-Covid times from next month.
The corporate industry in Delhi, Noida and Gurugram faced a hard time during consecutive lockdowns with salary cuts and layoffs, however, things are changing at a fast pace. According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) data, there are over four lakh people employed in the BPO and IT sector in the NCR. October onwards, many corporate offices, including Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs), Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPOs) and multinational companies (MNCs), which are the biggest job provider across NCR, are reopening.
Over one lakh jobs that include support staff for the industry like cab owners, cab drivers, bus owners, bus drivers, catering, housekeeping and many other such staffers are likely to be back in business in the next two to three months. "The industry is ready to reopen. The office spaces are reopening in a phased manner. From October, 10-20 per cent increase in the office staffers will be witnessed, which will gradually rise to 50-60 per cent in the next two-three months. In the corporate sector, one corporate employee working in the office building creates five support staff jobs," said Sameer Saxena, a corporate honcho and founding member at Global Association for Corporate Services (GACS).
"Over one lakh cab drivers who worked for BPOs, KPOs and MNCs, were jobless since the lockdown. Many had left for their hometowns. Now is the time when gradually all of them will be hired back. Similarly, over one lakh housekeeping staffers who were employed at corporate offices across the national capital region, will be back in business," said Saxena.
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The corporate offices are also adapting to new normal practices of thermal screening and the usage of hand sanitisers and masks inside office premises. The banking and finance sectors are almost 100 per cent functional in rotational shifts, but the rest of the sectors are also likely to reopen from next month.
"Apart from support staffers, the business of food will start booming. Every corporate office has at least one cafeteria and there are a number of food joints outside. All these were shut leaving the livelihoods of thousands depending on these businesses. As soon as the employees will start reaching offices, the business of food will also return to normal," said Ajit Pandey, a senior manager with a top corporate firm and member of the GACS.
The IT industry accounts for nearly 8 per cent of the total GDP of the country. There are only five cities where the BPO and IT industry is functioning that includes Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.
Captain Rajesh Sharma, real estate head with a top banking firm said, "The unlock will not happen overnight. It will take about a month or two to accommodate 50 per cent of the employees inside the office spaces as the Covid pandemic is not over yet. However, this will lead to the revival of the economy at a fast pace."
New jobs are also likely to be created with real estate, transport, catering, laundry and many other such businesses will be directly benefitted from the unlock 2.0.
Rahul Lal, senior associate with a corporate firm said, "When the lockdown was imposed and one office building was shut, it had a domino effect on industries like security, real estate, catering and others. Now, when it starts reopening, the domino effect will work in reverse and many jobs will be created."
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