The telecom industry<\/a> is seeing a shift in hiring patterns by business size and geographies. With new sub-sectors like mobile virtual private networks<\/a> (MVNOs<\/a>) becoming prominent, and the workforce moving to hybrid model, the industry is set to see increased hiring growth from non-metros, and by small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).
A report by staffing firm TeamLease<\/a> indicates that as of June 2022, the metros—Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai—accounted for 80% of the hiring, and small-and medium enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 77%. In other words, while jobs in telecom are abundant in the bigger centres like the metros, the bulk of the hiring is being done by the small and medium sized businesses.
SMEs in the telecom sector include manufacturing, marketing, and ancillary\/support function providers, in addition to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
MVNOs are smaller network providers that lease\/buy spectrum from telcos and provide voice and data services under their own brand.
Experts say the pandemic and resulting lockdowns had a major role to play in this hiring pattern.
“As companies moved to remote working, the requirement went from having on-field personnel to virtual connectivity,” said Munira Loliwala, assistant vice president-diversified engineering at TeamLease Digital. “As a result, the industry had to hire from outside its present pool with demand for people in areas like IoT<\/a> skills increasing. Of course, the metros had a ready pool of talent to pick from.”
In tandem with this diversification of skill demand, the industry also saw the emergence of new sub-sectors and so small and medium sized firms that would work largely in communication services or solution providers, or infra-comm services offering customer care or digital care services and data security services, started becoming more relevant.
“Globally, MVNOs are significant players within telecom and in India too, they are picking up pace,” said Sanjay Shetty, director-professional search & selection and strategic accounts, Randstad India<\/a>. “For example, we are seeing demand for profiles like chief business officer from our MVNO clients now. They will continue to drive hiring in the coming months as well.”
Initiatives like Digital India and smart cities are further fuelling the growth of the sub-sector, Shetty said.
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