An aerial view of Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, April 18: The capital city recorded a surge of 42.2 per cent, followed by Pune at 19.7 per cent, in total employment generation amongst 17 major tier II cities of the country, according to a study recently concluded by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

ASSOCHAM, in its study on current job trends in India, analysed employment opportunities in as many as 56 major cities, including tier I, II and III cities across 32 sectors from a sample of over 6.5 lakh job avenues during the last fiscal.

According to the analysis, Chandigarh with a growth of 12.2 per cent has ranked third among tier II cities, closely followed by Lucknow with 10.8 per cent and Surat 8.8 per cent shares in total job creation during the period of April 2010-March 2011.

Remaining tier II cities which recorded a moderate rise in employment generation during the last fiscal are: Jaipur (6.68 per cent), Vishakhapatam (5.5 per cent), Indore (4.33 per cent), Nagpur (4 per cent), Kochin (3.35 per cent), Ludhiana (3.28 per cent), Bhopal (2.21 per cent), Amritsar (2.13 per cent) and Gwalior (2 per cent).

Creating as many as 2,53,702 jobs, the tier II cities registered a 38.8 per cent rise in job opportunities during the last fiscal. Of these, as many as 1,89,756 employment avenues were generated by cities such as Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Surat, said the study.

Information technology and its enabled services (IT and ITes), education, realty, engineering, automobile, aviation, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors have contributed to the major share in employment generation.

Releasing the findings of the study, D.S. Rawat, the national secretary general of ASOCHAM, said: “With tier I cities getting congested and costlier over time, tier II and III cities have grabbed the lion’s share of 61.8 per cent in aggregate job creations during the last fiscal. This surely gives a signal of changing trends.” “Hiring has been more prominent across all key industry sectors during the last year. Moreover, with a view to rebuild their staff strength, companies are gearing up for an optimistic 2011-12,” Rawat added.