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INDIA Has All The Right Ingredients For Building A Future-Ready Workforce

 

 

INDIA has all the right ingredients for building a future-ready workforce.

Thammaiah BN, Managing Director at PERSOLKELLY India

According to UNESCO data, nearly one-third of students in India pick STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, resulting in vastly more STEM graduates than any other country bar China. India has one of the largest networks of higher education institutions globally, too, with 981 universities churning out millions of graduates into the workforce each year. Also, English is one of the country’s official languages, being the most dominant language in the business world.

 

Niche skill sets in demand

Yet this impressive output still cannot keep pace with the unprecedented demand for Technology Talent. Despite the pandemic, India’s IT sector continues to expand, driven by increasing digital transformation both here and around the world. India’s exports of software services climbed 4% in the 2020-2021 period, reaching an estimated US$133.7 billion. This rise follows a surge of 9.1% registered the previous year.

As seen in our report Future of Workforce & Workplace, changing business models and increasing adoption of technological advancements and digital transformation has led to organisations looking for specialised/skilled Talent to support their business. At the same time, India’s Technology landscape is evolving rapidly to target new opportunities, moving beyond IT and business process outsourcing to Cloud computing and SaaS. These advanced industries demand a digital and data mindset with niche skill sets such as Data Management, Front-end Technology, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Analytics, and Cyber Security. Universities don't have the facilities for teaching students the latest technical tools, so the Talent pool with relevant training and experience is small. Moreover, demand for Talent from overseas has increased, with companies in the US, Southeast Asia and China now competing with domestic companies in India for the same Talent.

 

Soft skills grow in importance

On top of the right Tech skills, companies seek Talent with various soft skills. Faced with new workforce models and rapidly changing business needs, Talent must be resilient and able to shift gears quickly. In our recent survey, ‘Empathy’, ‘Resilience’, ‘Adaptability’, ‘Collaboration’, ‘Flexibility’, ‘Communication’ and “Leadership Agility’ emerged as some of the top behavioural skills in demand for the future.

Identifying these soft skills in candidates will help organisations to thrive in the future competitive marketplace.

 

Challenges for employers

Attracting Talent in this hot market is challenging, where skilled candidates with relevant experience are getting four to six job offers. This scenario leads to more candidates dropping out from job offers, primarily in the Technology and allied industries. Our dipstick study found 75% of candidates reject offers because of better pay packages available elsewhere. We also see a growing trend in India for skilled Talent to move jobs suddenly.

Even if they can find the right Talent, companies must offer 30%-40% higher salaries than the pre-Covid-19 era to bring them on board. In fact, for a few months during the pandemic, we have seen an increase of up to 180% in the salary range offered to attract skilled Talent. This state of affairs increasingly forces companies to add joining bonuses, perks and, in the case of startups, ESOPs to the mix to hire and retain Top Talent.

 

What’s in it for the employee?

A better pay package isn’t the primary draw for all Talent. A quarter of candidates in our dipstick survey said their decision to drop out of job offers is affected by other factors like career progression clarity and workplace flexibility, among others. As per our survey, employees prefer to leverage flexible models that will help them feel empowered, productive and deliver better performance. Companies with an explicit value proposition of delivering a better employee experience will have the greatest success in attracting Talent. Most importantly, these values need to be communicated on digital platforms and social media to grab the attention of the younger Talent.

In our survey, candidates told us they want to see a well-defined career road map and internal growth opportunities. A greater emphasis on physical and mental wellbeing and work-life balance is crucial, too. Employees are looking for a purpose-driven workforce led by senior management that walks the talk, and they want the employer to share their growth plan and aims. Finally, candidates want to know where the employer stands on the hybrid work model and job autonomy, perhaps the defining factors in deciding on new job opportunities today.

 

Adapt to win

Companies that show they can respond rapidly, frequently and transparently to today’s fast-changing environment appeal more to Talent. Smaller, agile startups tend to be good at this, which pressure multinational corporations (MNCs) to attract and retain Top Talent. The pandemic has been a leveller, with Talent more open to considering the risk of working for start-ups to find more opportunities to grow. In response, some MNCs are starting to offer “safe spacesor innovation labs to foster a culture of experimentation and encourage Top Talent to be entrepreneurial and grow within their organisation.

Flexible work policies will continue to be a top attracting enabler. Companies need to adapt to alternate work models to achieve efficiencies and foster employee wellbeing. Our survey of over 60 HR decision-makers shows that top priority interventions to improve workforce productivity would be to create and maintain employee wellness, continue investing in technology and leverage a flexible work model. The pandemic experience has especially opened up remote work opportunities and the chance for organisations to reach out to Talent across boundaries. Borderless hiring strategies can help fast-growing companies when the geographical location bears little significance to specific roles.

 

Supporting business growth strategies

PERSOLKELLY recently celebrated our 20th year in India, and we have gained enormous in-depth and specialised market knowledge over two decades.

We understand the flexibility required to build a future-ready workforce. Our Permanent hiring and leadership hiring teams are adept and well prepared with Centres of Excellence across industries to cater to niche skill hiring. Our innovative Temp and Contract staffing solutions can lead to permanent placement later providing a low-risk strategy to help employers evaluate Talent. And our Regional Talent Solutions (RTS) can support companies’ regional growth in APAC with borderless recruitment, avoiding the need to set up an office overseas.

In these various ways, we help companies adopt newer approaches in attracting, managing and retaining Talent to gain a competitive edge in this dynamic market.

 

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News Room
Date published
Date modified
30/12/2021