Not only is India’s mobile ecosystem and app economy thriving, the prospects for employment growth are surging.
“Its app economy is expected to double direct employment in the industry from 75,000 at present to nearly 160,000 by 2016,” according to ZDNet. “If downstream jobs such as sales and marketing as well as customer sales management are also considered, numbers could be more than 600,000 by next year.”
The findings come from the July study “An inquiry into the impact of India’s App Economy” undertaken by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), supported by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
“Though smartphone penetration is said to be less than 20 percent, as many as 100 million downloads take place every month, placing India amongst the top five regions for Google Play, the official Android app store,” noted ZDNet.
The report outlined four scenarios that will determine the number of jobs that would be generated by the app economy: Business As Usual (BAU) with no regulatory intervention; Mature Industry (IM) with high smartphone penetration and data usage; Government Intervention (GI) providing digital infrastructure enabling demand; and Aggressive Government Intervention in a Mature Market (AGI).
“Recognizing the role of technology and apps in generating employment, the Indian government has announced a $160 million (1000 crore rupees) Self Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) incubation programme for supporting startups in the area of technology,” reported ZDNet.
