Digital marketing to create 1.5 lakh jobs by 2016: Experts

NEW DELHI: About 1.5 lakh jobs are expected to be created in the digital marketing space within a couple of years as more companies tap the internet and the social media platforms to bolster business, say HR experts.

India is emerging as a digital outsourcing hub for diverse services including online advertising, social media and website design, they said.

"With both businesses and consumers increasingly shifting their focus to the digital medium, there will be 1.5 lakhs jobs available by 2016," Manipal Global Education Services executive president V Sivaramakrishnan said.

Going by estimates, around 25,000 new job opportunities are likely this year itself in digital marketing space.

The rising demand is also spurred by increased use of the internet and mobile phones besides fast growing e-commerce businesses.

However, the availability of talent is less than demand. "Almost every single brandhas put in place a digital marketing strategy and are struggling to hire people to execute the same," Trivone Digital Services founder & CEO L Subramanyam said.

Reflecting similar sentiments, CareerBuilder India MD Premlesh Machama said there is a dearth of skilled and experienced professionals for digital marketing.

HR firm Randstad India CEO Moorthy Uppaluri said there has been a huge proliferation of technology that has changed the way companies engage with their clients and employees.

"Hence, the focus of companies to enter new digital channels of engagement is driving up the demand for digital (marketing) professionals," Uppaluri said.

According to MeraJob India CEO Pallav Sinha said, India is also becoming a potential outsourcing hub for digital marketing services, with many entities taking up projects from clients in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Unison International MD Udit Mittal said the requirement for more skilled and efficient digital marketing professionals is rising at an exponential level.