Amid the gloom all around, any silver lining is welcome. While prophets of doom are pointing at the depressing numbers — rising inflation, the falling rupee, high interest rates and the diving indices — the news of companies hiring is a cheering note. Surveys by two human resources firms indicating that the job market will boom in 2012 shows optimism among employers that the economy is bound to do better.
There are those who will warn not to read too much into such assessments, since the findings are relative to the rest of the world, where the mood is decidedly grim. But that caveat needs to be disregarded. It is clear while there is much to worry about in India, the corporate sector is firmly convinced about the long-term growth story and wants to start gearing up for it. The current problems are serious, no doubt, but they are not insurmountable — inflation will fall and the markets will boom some day. In any case, even a relatively modest growth rate of approximately seven per cent will create the need for more jobs across all sectors.
The lesson to be drawn from this is that the Indian economy’s fundamentals continue to be robust, even if it is being buffeted by strong headwinds. If a slowing economy can still create employment at an impressive pace, imagine what could happen when growth increases. Our policymakers need to build upon this and act decisively; it is not such a bad picture all around.