India, China see greatest labour need in construction sec: WEF

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) Fuelled by the housing needs of
millions of people, India and China are seeing the "greatest
demand" for labour in the construction sector, a report by the
World Economic Forum has said.
Two of the world's most populous countries, India and
China, are also among the fastest growing large economies.
"The world's greatest labour demand in construction is
found in China and India, which is not surprising, given the
need to house millions of people," the latest Global Talent
Risk report has said.
Prepared by the WEF in association with the Boston
Consulting Group, the report analysed projected talent
shortages in 25 countries, including India.
According to the study, BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and
China) nations have a fairly constant overall labour demand
growth trend across industries.
"For instance, in financial services, BRICs will see much
more change in their future talent line-ups than they do today
... The demand trend in clusters such as manufacturing
professionals will grow sharply as more sophisticated products
are developed," it noted.
Stressing human capital as the "engine of economic
prosperity", the study said there is increasing demand for
highly-skilled people worldwide.
"Employability will continue to be a huge problem
worldwide. Because of the uneven quality of education systems,
(for instance) only 25 per cent of Indian and 20 per cent of
Russian professionals are currently considered employable by
multinationals," the report said.
Huge demand for highly-skilled professionals is expected
to be witnessed in companies, especially those in trade,
transport and communication sectors in developing nations.
Health care research and development is expected to
generate enormous demand for skilled labour worldwide.
Many countries would have an aged population by 2050, a
scenario that could further increase the demand for talent.
"Compared to today, in 2050, ... all BRIC countries will
have more than doubled age 65 and older dependency ratios, and
all except India will have more aged societies than today's
most-aged society (Japan)," it added.