9.2 million Indians to seek jobs online in 2006-07

Mumbai: The number of Indians seeking jobs online reached 6.5 million in 2005-06 recording a rise of 71 per cent over last year. This was revealed by a survey conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) recently.

The number of online job seekers is expected to cross 9.2 million this year (2006-07) with the estimated market size of the Indian online recruitment industry reaching Rs241 crore for 2006-07, up from Rs145 crore for 2005-06. The industry is also likely to maintain a year on year growth of over 60 per cent, according to the survey.

The survey also found that junior, mid-level and senior executives accounted for more than 50 per cent of online job seekers. In addition, in keeping with the overall pattern of internet usage, among the states Maharashtra topped the list of online job seekers followed by Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal.

Online Job Search is one of the top five online activities (e-mail, surfing, chatting, search and job search) that Indians indulge in on the internet. Fuelled by a rising internet penetration and 38.5 million users, e-recruitment is gaining ground as a preferred medium of hiring in India. For job seekers, the internet has opened up the world of job searching, turning it into a 24-hour-a-day marketplace. The internet is arguably the most immediate, convenient and comprehensive medium for employment seekers to research and prospect for jobs.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI, said, "The online job search is a winner all the way. For job seekers it eliminates the disadvantages of location, cost and time. For recruiters, it provides easy access to the best talent at a competitive cost. Given the obvious advantages, this segment is set to grow at a scorching pace."

A growing economy, a thriving job market and increasingly net savvy users have converged to create the right environment for the online job search market to grow.

To understand the exact demographics of the online job seekers as well as parallel activities they do online, IAMAI mandated a study in January 2006 with a base of 3269 respondents who seek jobs online.

Major highlights:

Age:

• 38% of the respondents who use the internet for job searches are in the 18-25 age group
  
• 43% are in the 26-35 age group
  
• 13% are in the 36-45 age group and
  
• 5% are in the 46-60 age group.

Gender:
72% of the respondents who use the internet for job searches are male and 28% are female

Educational Qualification:

• 2% of respondents who use the internet for job searches have an education up to SSC / HSC
  
• 12% have some college (including. diploma) but not a graduate
  
• 41% have a graduate / post-graduate general (BA, BSC. MSC, B.com etc.)
  
• 40% have a graduate / post graduate professional degree.

Occupation:

• 13% of respondents who use the internet for job search are students
  
• 4% are clerical / salespersons
  
• 8% are officers and supervisors
  
• 15% are junior executives
  
• 25% are mid level executives
  
• 12% are senior executives
  
• 8% are self employed professionals
  
• 2% are businessmen / industrialists
  
• 2% are skilled / unskilled
  
• 2% are housewives
  
• 1% are retired.

Internet access:

• 48% of respondents use the internet for job searches access net from home 64% access the internet from offices
  
• 48% access the internet from cyber café
  
• 6% use it from a friend's place
  
• 9% access the net fromfrom mobile handsets.

Internet usage in years:

• 37% of online job searchers have used the internet for over 6 years
  
• 48% for three - to five five years
  
• 10% for 1 to 2 years
  
• 3% for 6 to 11 months
  
• 1% for less than 6 months.

Geographical Representation:

By state:

• 26% from Maharashtra
  
• 17% from Delhi
  
• 13% from Tamil Nadu
  
• 8% from Karnataka
  
• 6% from West Bengal
  
• 5% from Uttar Pradesh
  
• 4% from Andhra Pradesh
  
• 3% from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
  
• 2% from Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan
  
• 1% are from Assam, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Pondicherry and Punjab

By cities:

• 17% are from Mumbai and Delhi each
  
• 7% are from Chennai
  
• 5% from Kolkata and Bangalore each
  
• 3% from Hyderabad and Pune each
  
• 2% from Ahmedabad and Lucknow each
  
• 1% each from Vadodara, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Cochin, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Nagpur, Patna and Thiruvanthanapuram each.

Other online activities of users who use the net for job searches:

Email: 99% of online job searchers aslo use the net for for emails.

Chatting: 52% of online job searchers aslo use the net for chatting.

Surfing: 74% of online job searchers aslo use the net for surfing. It is 3% higher than 'All respondents'.

Search: 73% of online job searchers aslo use Search Engines. It is 3% higher than 'All respondents'.

Research: 31% of online job searchers aslo use the net for Research.

News online: 56% of online job searchers aslo use the net for news online.

News on mobile: 14% of online job searchers aslo look up news on their mobile.

Matrimonials: 17% of online job searchers aslo use the net for matrimonial searches.

Astrology: 31% of online job searchers aslo use the net for astrological predictions

Religious, spiritual information: 17% of online job searchers aslo use the net for spiritual information.

Online Transactional Activities (Financial):

Online Auctions: 15% of online job searchers aslo use the net for participating in online auctions.

Online Stock Trading: 14% of online job searchers aslo use the net for online stock trading.

Online Bill Payments: 19% of online job searchers aslo use the net for online bill payments.

Online Banking: 34% of online job searchers aslo use the net for online banking.

Online Shopping: 28% of online job searchers aslo use the net for online shopping.

Donating or Charity Online: 5% of online job searchers aslo use the net for online charitable donations.