“The booming Indian retail sector will need around 56 million workforce by 2022,” says a report from the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
“The sector will also have one of the highest incremental human resource requirements of 17.35 million between 2013 and 2022,” the report adds.
NSDC mapped 24 sectors for assessing incremental human resource requirement in the country.
According to the findings of the report, the Indian retail industry estimated at $435 billion is expected to witness a CAGR of 18.1 percent over the next 4-5 years and reach $848 billion.
There will be considerable demand for skilled manpower as the industry is growing steadily, fuelled by like changing lifestyles, rising disposable incomes, favourable demographics, and easy credit availability.
The report states that the sector contributes to 23 per cent of the GDP, driven by an increasing Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE).
Over the last few years PFCE has grown Rs 19 lakh crores in 2005 to around Rs 51 lakh crores in 2012 and in FDI terms, the cumulative value of retail sector has more than doubled.
Organised retail is no more an urban phenomenon as it is estimated that tier 2 and smaller cities will evolve fast, to constitute majority share of the organised retail in coming years.
Dilip Chenoy, CEO at NSDC says, “The potential for growth is huge in the sector as there are opportunities across various job roles in retail which the youth can capitalise on.”
“The metro cities are the major consumption hubs and preferred destination for large scale retail, but to match requirements of skilled manpower, we need to further scale up our efforts,” he too adds.
Organised retail is projected to grow at 29 per cent CAGR, with an increase in penetration of organised players from 7.7 to 11 per cent of the entire sector.
As per 68th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), distribution of retail workforce is concentrated among Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
These five states account for over 45 per cent of the employment, since these states are also major consumption centres and home to India’s largest cities.
According to the report, the employment base of the industry is expected to reach 56 million by 2022 across conventional and specialised retail segments.
“While lack of premium attached to skills still remains a challenge in the sector, policy impetus is driving the focus on training,” the report informs.
Shortage of trained manpower at various levels and lack of retail training institutes have prompted several retailers to launch in-house training programs for their staff or setup their own training facilities.
Training period varies for typical generalists in segments such as food and grocery for a few days to weeks for specialists in segments such as high end lifestyle brands.