LOCAL FOCUS - Banking, finance sectors push rural employment

The banking and finance sector holds a beacon of hope for rural youth as employment from the interiors now forms a bulk of the total hiring for some banks.For most private banks which started expanding their network in rural areas a few years ago, hiring from tier 3 to tier 6 regions now forms 50-80% of the total hiring. HDFC Bank officals said plans are afoot to hire around 12,000 people in the current year. Given the bank's growing presence in semiurban and rural locations, a majority of the hiring is taking place in tier 4 to tier 5 cities. “Tier 4 & 5 cities alone account for half of the total number. Most of the hires in the tier 4 and 5 locations are done locally. For example, in our auto loans business, for the rural vertical, we are hiring rural sales officers, who are recruited from the same area given their familiarity with the geography and demography,“ these officials said. Over the last 3-5 years, Axis Bank too has been growing steadily and expanding its network and reach especially in tier 2 & 3 ci ties. Hiring data over the last three years reveals a trend of close to 80% hiring from tier 2 & 3 cities for Axis Bank.
“With branches opening in tier 2 & 3 cities, the bank's strategy has been to focus on hiring local talent. This whilst generating employment opportunity to the indigenous community, brings in local flavor which is critical for customer service,“ said Rudrapriyo Ray, HR head, Axis Bank.
DCB Bank, which hires around 60% from tier 3 to tier 6 locations, sees a lot of business potential in these locations. Just a few years ago, the entire hiring at DCB Bank was carried out in tier 1 locations. The bank has also tied up with several campuses from tier 3 to tier 6 cities to facilitate hiring beyond the metros. Hamsaz Vasunia, HR head, DCB Bank said hiring in these locations will continue to see an upward trend especially in the banking sector. Census data shows that over 22 million youth look to move from rural belts to urban areas in search of employment over a ten year horizon.“Our six cities are incapable of fulfilling their aspirations any longer. Till such time manufacturing contributes to enable the labour market transition from farm to non farm ­ labour intensive service sectors like BFSI is a ray of hope for our youth in these semi urban, rural areas,“ said Rituparna Chakraborty, senior VP & co-founder, TeamLease Services.
Chakraborty, however, said the rural youth would need to skill up to take advantage of these jobs which are expected to be in plenty in the months ahead. DCB Bank hires freshers as `buddying bankers' and then builds their skills and knowledge through its structured training programmes. However, contrary to what is popularly assumed, talent gets hired at a premium in these cities.
`“There is a dearth of good middle level managers in these cities since most have migrated into bigger towns as they progressed in their careers. Most organisations want leaders in those locations to have very strong local market knowledge and network. Thus they pay higher to find the right fit,“said Vasunia.



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