Despite 40% dip in interest in pharma sector jobs, Indian youths throng for Ayurveda jobs in 2017

The number of employees in India seeking to work with the Ayurveda industry has surged significantly when compared to last year, found a leading job search engine Indeed. The spike in interest is attributed to the efforts taken by the government and the home-grown Ayurvedic companies in spreading the awareness about the Make in India campaign.

According to Indeed, the Ministry of AYUSH has been stressing more on alternative medicine and encouraging people for opting more natural healthcare practices due to which job search for Ayurveda witnessed a growth rate of 56 percent in 2017.

The substantial increase in interest for jobs in the Ayurveda sector happened at a time when the pharma sector witnessed 40 percent dip in people looking for jobs in the segment, as per the report.

This could also suggest a shift in the social trend where Indians look for more alternative and natural healing methods.

"The inclination of the Indian workforce towards Ayurveda signifies the impact of socio-economic developments on the job market and people's preferences," said Sashi Kumar, managing director at Indeed India.

The AYUSH industry is expected to grow in double digits and provide direct employment to 1 million people and indirect jobs to 25 million workers by 2020, said Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu, earlier this month.

AYUSH stands for traditional healthcare systems like Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.

"The Indian domestic market of AYUSH is estimated to double, young Indian entrepreneurs planning a start-up could find a lot of opportunities in holistic healthcare," said Prabhu.

Futher, people looking to work with Baba Ramdev led Patanjali has also shot up since the Make in India campaign caught the attention of young employees.

India's second largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, Patanjali Ayurved, has hired more than 1000 employees from leading companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Colgate, Dabur, Godrej and Nestle.

Now, they are also planning to hire freshers from the top notch business schools, on this ongoing placement season.

"Presently, we have headcount of 25,000 employees. We hired almost 10,000 people last year. Considering our aggressive growth plans for the coming years, we need to add at least 10,000 more employees in another one year," said Balkrishna, Managing Director at Patanjali Ayurved.