The job market in New Delhi

New Delhi's economy

New Delhi is a major hub of economic activity in northern India. The National Capital Territory(NCT) nominal GSDP for the year 2017-2018 was accounted at a whopping ₹6.86 lakh crore (US$99 billion). The city recorded a major yearly growth of 8.1%. In 2017-18, the highest contributing sector in New Delhi's economy was tertiary which amounted to 85% of Delhi's total GSDP. The secondary and primary sectors, on the other hand, showed a growth of 12% and 3% respectively. The services sector had 7.3% yearly growth.

As one can see, New Delhi has seen a steady rise in the quality of life of its residents. As the city becomes more affluent, the consumer demands are increasing as well. This has led to a flourishing retail industry. Though IT and telecommunications are still the major employers in the city, there are many jobs available in the media, tourism, engineering and design sectors as well. The expats are usually hired to fill the upper management and are expected to train the middle staff to eventually take over. Being the national capital of India, New Delhi also boasts of numerous foreign embassies and thus diplomats make up a large portion of the expat population in the city.

Work contract in New Delhi

According to the Indian labour laws, employees are categorised according to their skills and the area of operation. On the basis of skills, employees are sectioned into unskilled, semi-skilled and highly skilled. With regard to the area of operation, there are managerial, personnel and workmen sections. These categories define the job roles, wages, disbursal of benefits and the rights and obligations of all employees.

Make sure you carefully go through the job contract before finalising. Job offers usually mention a lot of other benefits for expats on top of the fixed monthly salary. A fixed number of paid leave days are provided to every employee that can be utilised as per need. Many contracts also mention a bond of a few years before you can leave the job.

Maternity and paternity leave

The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act 2017 provides 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for women employees. The eligibility criteria mention that the woman must be working for a time length of more than 80 days in the past year for a particular organisation. The payment during the leave is calculated on the basis of female employee's average daily salary. Paternal leave is a much-debated idea in India, and no clear laws have been made still. That being said, there are a lot of opportunities for an English-speaking expat in New Delhi. So if you stay open and persevere in job hunting, you will definitely find a job here that perfectly suits your needs. You can even join various NGOs if you would like to dedicate time to social work.