They are experts at snipping and styling hair and bring their own sense of hospitality to the hotels and restaurants that many of them serve in.

After the hotel and construction industry, beauty parlours, spas, nature cure hospitals and massage centres are the new avenues of employment for youth from the north-eastern states of Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, and others who have travelled a long way to Kerala, in the deepest south of the country, to make a living.

Cities such as Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode are home to hundreds of migrant workers from these states who are much sought after by the hospitality and service industries.

Nearly 80 per cent of the elite salons in Kochi, home to a large number of these high-profile salons and spas, are dependent on beauticians and masseurs from the north east.

This apart, the around 3,000 beauty salons in the state and several unisex parlours in the metros too employ migrant beauticians, who give massages, do pedicures, style hair and even do tattoos.

In Thiruvananthapuram, men’s salons, which once employed hairstylists from Tamil Nadu, now prefer those from north India and the north-east. “When I launched the salon a few years ago, all my stylists were locals.

But now all my staff are from the north-east as they are gifted with good massaging skills,” says Deepa Fenn, managing partner, Catalyst Salon and Spa, Thiruvananthapuram.

Language is no bar, as most of the migrants learn essential Malayalam quickly and can also converse in English and Hindi, she reveals.

“Not just migrants from the north east, but workers from Nepal and Bhutan too come to the city in search of jobs in service industries.

Nepali people have a natural inclination for jobs as beautician,” observes Kanmani Kishore, a salon owner in Edappally, Kochi.

“Like in any other sector, migrant workers are content with lower wages and are ready to work for longer hours. This is one big reason why they are preferred by the service sector. While the locals demand salaries up to Rs 12, 000 a month, the migrants are prepared to work for half this salary and for longer hours,” says one owner of a parlour.

“They are good at massaging and hairstyling,” adds Rema, a salon owner, who employs Manipuri staff for pedicuring and hairstyling.

President of the Beauty Parlours Owners' Association, Grita Gireesh, claims that salon owners recruit people from the north east as they find it hard to come across qualified and experienced staff from the state.

“The migrants are very good at hairstyling and massaging. Most of them have a degree or diploma from institutes in Delhi and Mumbai and receive decent wages, food and accommodation in their places of employment,” she says.

Many customers too look out for salons with north-eastern staff. “As they are expert hairstylists, I visit only those salons which have north east and Nepali hairstylists,” admits Ajay P.V. of the Government College of Physical Education, East Hill, Kozhikode.

(With inputs from Shainu Mohan in Thiruvananthapuram and Melena Thomas in Kozhikode)

Local beauticians bear the brunt

There may be more beauty parlours in the state today, but this has not meant more jobs for local beauticians as the industry thrives on hairstylists and masseurs from the north-east.

“In the past beauticians and hairstylists from the state with diplomas and certificates of short-term courses found a lot of opportunities waiting for them.

Even a beginner was assured of Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 plus incentives a month based on revenue and performance.

But now, although the number of parlours has shot up, it is tough to find a job in one of them,” says Diana James, a beautician.

Another hairstylist with a salon in Kochi too laments that while there are many local stylists who are qualified and experienced, they are sidelined as the migrants are ready to work for lower salaries and longer hours.

“Its true that the domestic beauty market is flooded with outsiders. But we are not neglecting the local people either. Many lack qualification and experience and this forces those running parlours to appoint staff from other states,” contends a parlour owner.