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Sreeradha Basu, The Economic Times

Posted on 2024-5-24

Small cities home to big dream jobs: Hiring scene in tier 2, 3 cities gets busy

According to a recent circular posted by The Economic Times which talks about how the Job opportunities are growing across sectors in tier 2 and 3 cities, and professionals are eager to join, recruiters and firms said. Escalating living costs and infrastructural challenges in metros are prompting executives to move to smaller cities. Companies, on their part, are drawn by cheaper land costs, lower salaries and easy talent availability, besides rising disposable incomes in these cities

Job opportunities are growing across sectors in tier 2 and 3 cities, and professionals are eager to join, recruiters and firms said. Escalating living costs and infrastructural challenges in metros are prompting executives to move to smaller cities. Companies, on their part, are drawn by cheaper land costs, lower salaries and easy talent availability, besides rising disposable incomes in these cities.

Bengaluru: Whenever Emaar India announces a new project in a tier-2 city, the real estate developer's chief HR officer Madhuri Mehta's LinkedIn account gets flooded with messages from professionals looking for jobs back in their hometowns.

"These people are a potential talent pool," said Mehta, citing instances of professionals who want to move back home...from, say, Delhi to Mohali. She said Emaar is hiring actively in cities like Indore, Jaipur, Mohali and Lucknow, where they have projects running.

Job opportunities are growing across sectors in tier 2 and 3 cities, and professionals are eager to join, recruiters and companies said.

While escalating living costs and mounting infrastructural challenges in metros are prompting executives to move to smaller cities, companies, on their part, are drawn by cheaper land costs, lower salaries and easy talent availability, besides rising disposable incomes in these cities.

Active tier 2/3 white-collar job openings on popular job boards and portals have grown by 41% year on year, data shared with ET by recruiting firm Xpheno showed.

Those hiring in smaller cities include Bajai Finserv, IBM, Accenture, Infosys, Genpact, Vodafone Idea, Airtel, Infoss BPM, IDFC First Bank, HDFC, the data showed.

Companies are not just hiring people who want to move back to their hometowns; they are actively tapping local talent as well

Instead of hiring talent from smaller cities and placing them in offices in metros, we are taking our offices closer to talent pools across India," said Thirukkumaran Nagarajan, HR head at IBM India/South Asia.

The technology company has expanded to cities including Gandhinagar, Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Mysuru and Coimbatore.

"By bringing offices closer to these cities, IBM benefits from a broader talent base, while employees gain the advantage of working in their home regions, promoting a balanced work-life environment," Nagarajan said.

While many states and cities have been building IT parks and other infrastructure to attract investments and create jobs for ears now, Covid lockdown-linked remote working showcased such locations as effective work centres, experts said.