Information technology, banking and agriculture-related businesses are going to be among the key job creating sectors in 2014, according to a study by industry body Assocham.

“Information Technology (IT), pharmaceuticals, banking and agri-related industries such as farm equipment, fertilisers and seeds, will remain the largest employment generation sectors in 2014,” the chamber said in its study.

All these sectors will stand out despite the present state of the economy where net employment is being lost and not created in a large majority of sectors.

IT will remain the net aggregator of jobs in 2014 due to recovery in the US economy, it said.

“The US economy is showing signs of improvement... A large number of American firms are expected to increase their IT spend as consumer sales pick up there,” it added.

Continuous pressure on rupee will help increase the net income of IT companies and they will keep hiring, it pointed out.

“Since our economy still remains a good mix of organised and unorganised, large corporate and small enterprises, a large number of people in rural India are dependent on agriculture and tertiary industries; there are inherent and inbuilt strengths which come handy when the chips are down,” Assocham President Rana Kapoor said.

Pharma sector will continue to hire in 2014. But because of some setbacks and tightening of regulations in the US and some other markets, the companies will have to invest more in improving their manufacturing and Research & Development.

Further, the study said that agri-based industries are expected to do better in 2014 on the back of a good rabi crop.

“The positive spin off would be evident in a whole lot of industries which are directly linked such as tractor and farm equipment manufacturers, irrigation firms and those involved in developing and selling seeds and fertilisers”, it said.

On banking, the study said that 2014 is expected to be a better year for the sector.

“The NPAs would be reduced since the focus is very much there on the issue and there are signs of recovery in some segments of the economy. Besides, a huge number of backlog vacancies have to be filled up in public sector banks.”

For the private banking sector, new licenses, which are likely to be given before April, will throw up new job opportunities.

While the new banks will leverage technology, job opportunities will arise both in brick and mortar as also in development and implementation of technology solutions, the study added.

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