KARACHI, Jan 25: At a time when joblessness looms large in the country, three main components of the large scale manufacturing sectors - automobiles, electronics and domestic appliances - have so far proved a big hope for job seekers.

The renewed vigour among buyers to acquire new products and improved liquidity positions have caught the attention of the local assemblers to make new investment and expand production base that ultimately resulted in creating new job avenues.

If overall country's job market is taken - then the share of these sectors in creating new jobs is very thin, but in hard times when cost of living is touching the red, something is better than nothing.

Figures compiled by the auto sector reveal that the current direct employment in the automobile manufacturing industry (cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles and tractors) now ranges between 116,000 and 120,000 - 110,000 are vendors and 10,000 are related to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The industry now projects direct employment to reach 190,000 by the year 2006, in which employment in vending industry and OEMs is expected to rise to 175,000 and 15,000, respectively.

The current total investment in the automobile sector (cars, bikes, commercial vehicles and tractor assembling) is estimated at Rs50-52 billion. The share of vendors stands at Rs25-30 billion followed by Rs8-10 billion by car industry, Rs5 billion by tractor makers, Rs8 billion by tractor segment and Rs2 billion by commercial vehicle makers.

The projected increase in investment by 2006 is estimated at Rs93 billion with vendor industry's contribution rising to Rs70 billion, Rs12 billion by car industry and Rs4.5 billion each by tractor and motorcycle industries.

Indus Motor Company CEO Mazhar Valjee says the company has now a total staff strength of 1,272 persons as compared to 135 in December 1991. The real boom in manpower came in December 2002 when total number of staff reached 886, thanks to launch of new Toyota Corolla. The company has so far invested Rs2.4 billion since 1993.

A senior executive at Dewan Mushtaq Group which had set up an assembly plant at Sajawal, Sindh, said the group had invested Rs3 billion in the last four years. The total direct manpower is about 1,000. The company intends to assemble BMW in 2005-06 for which contract assembly agreement has already been signed.

A senior executive at Atlas Group of Companies said that at the motorcycle assembling plant around 2,850 people worked as compared to 600 four years back. The company intends to employ 500 more next year. In the last four years, Rs5 billion has been invested while another Rs1.5 billion would be invested next year.

Similarly, at Atlas car industry a total of 1,200 persons are working as compared to 375 four years back. Around Rs1 billion has been invested while the company plans to invest Rs1.5 billion in 2005.

General Manager Marketing, Pak Suzuki Limited, Ashfaq Hussain, said the company had provided jobs to 250 people in the last eight months, making the total strength of staff to 1,350. He said the overall production rise to 49,551 units in 2003 as compared to 29,729 units in 2002 had led to opening of new job opportunities. The total investment in Pak Suzuki is estimated at Rs3.5 billion and the company plans to invest Rs1.3 billion in 2004.

HEAVY VEHICLES: Around 1,650 persons are directly and indirectly employed at Hinopak. Director, Sales and Marketing, Hinopak Motors Limited, M. Irfan Sheikh, said that 700-800 persons had been employed in the last one year owing to increase in production and sales under the Urban Transport Scheme (UTS) for buses and Army business relating to truck sales. He says the total investment of Pakistan and Japan in HML stands at Rs124 million in which the share of Pakistan's investment is 11 per cent.