Amidst the growing population of Hyderabad, the birth of new lifestyle diseases, growing health awareness, and an increase in medical tourism and government spending on health care, the health care industry is growing at a rapid pace. Each of these factors has led to a sharp rise in the number of health care jobs in Hyderabad.
The evolving population numbers and lifestyle in the city has lead to an increase in the occurrence of new lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and other illnesses related to pollution and stress.
Moreover, as the literacy rate in the city rises, so does the health awareness of the ordinary person. This directly feeds into the growth of the industry, creating a demand (in the form of more people making an educated decision to seek certain health care services) for sector-related services.
Medical tourism is also becoming more popular, as the health care sector is modernizing while still providing services at an internationally competitive and attractive cost. According to a report on the India health care sector by the Indian Law Offices, the cost of surgery in India is 10% of the cost of the identical surgery in America.
In addition, preceding the liberalization of economic policies, the public health care sector has been lagging behind the private sector. It is estimated that the private sector brings in 80% of the total revenue raked in by the health care sector. So with the demand for health care services on the rise, the Indian government has initiated many schemes, leading to an increase of government spending in the sector. This, again, has a direct correlation with the expeditious growth seen in the sector.
As expected, a growing sector is supplemented with a growth in the availability of job opportunities in the respective sector. Likewise,
health care jobs in Hyderabad have increased.
The industry has seen an influx of professionals pursuing a career in the sector. It created 36.7% of the total number of jobs, the highest job-creating sector, in 2010.
The industry offers jobs to people with a background in both the sciences and management. Job opportunities are available in many corners of the industry. A few of the employment giants in the sector are the Apollo Hospitals, the Escorts Group, Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare, Wockhardt, Manipal Health Systems, and Arvind Eye Hospitals.
Additionally, the quality of the salaries for these jobs has also increased, albeit mostly in the private sector. Professor Chanda of the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore attributes this to the better salaries to foreign funding. In her report, Foreign Investment in Hospitals in India: Status and Implications, she states, Foreign funded hospitals pay higher rates to staff at all levels and particularly to senior medical personnel.
The increase in foreign funding can be attributed to the extremely liberal economic policies for Foreign Direct Investments into the health care sector. For example, one of Singapores health care service providers plans to establish a Pacific Medical Centre in Hyderabad in a joint venture with Vitae Healthcare Pvt Ltd.
