Realities of current talent ecosystem

Of late, recruiters in India are going slow on hiring and also delaying the onboarding process. While IT majors like TCS, Wipro, Infosys, and HCL have been holding up the onboarding of recent graduates, tech firms are looking to slash campus and entry-level hiring by as much as 20%, from next year.

With around 2.2 million professionals said to be leaving their jobs by 2025, the talent ecosystem in India seems to be in a state of disruption. Reasons for this include the need for employees to manage work-life balance, seeking higher levels of compensation and increased flexibility within work environments.

This is also leading to an underlying discrepancy between companies’ demand for talent and the number of people on the supply side. Recruiters, too, are facing a tough time with retaining and attracting talent due to a mismatch of expectations, especially compensation.

While the lack of hiring opportunities, furloughs, layoffs and reduced salaries led people to find alternative sources of income, the number of people voluntarily quitting their jobs in 2021 has dramatically grown in India and the rest of the world. With this continued trend, the country is another victim of an ongoing phenomenon called “The Great Resignation.” This upheaval is largely due to the result of several changes in workplace dynamics brought on by the pandemic.

Reasons for rise in such trends and remedies

Insufficient pay packages are the primary cause of most of the disruption happening in the talent ecosystem today. In a survey of over 500 developers by programming website Stack Overflow, 65% cited pay as the biggest reason for finding new opportunities. Among other similar surveys, the likelihood of switching jobs for Gen Z respondents was 21% higher.

Formal attrition across the technology sector in India has also been on the rise. One of the reasons is an increased skill mismatch. For instance, 48% of the nation’s engineering graduates today are unemployed. This can be addressed by enabling a multi-pronged approach where governments, corporations and educational institutions could organise various upskilling and reskilling campaigns. Students can learn workplace-relevant skills such as effective judgment, complex problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking, negotiation, people management, emotional intelligence, service orientation and decision-making.

It is also essential for teachers to undergo upskilling programs so that they can use various
technological tools to personalise the way they approach a certain subject. This will greatly enhance the experience for the students. While many companies send industry experts to conduct sessions at educational institutions, which give students a taste of professional life, very few colleges in India send their academicians on sabbaticals to gain further professional expertise. When more of this happens, teachers can further impart knowledge that is workplace relevant.

Regarding moonlighting, it is important for companies to understand why their employees are taking up secondary jobs in the first place. Additionally, companies must work on developing employee assistance programs, as well as revamping their regulatory frameworks around moonlighting to mutually benefit both parties.

Employees, on the other hand, must display a good value system to gain better career prospects. This includes being more career-oriented than job-oriented, helping them to land opportunities that will keep them constantly motivated at work.

Conclusion

As the talent ecosystem is in a state of flux, it is crucial for companies to invest in their employees as well as develop future-proof strategies for their employment practices.

While the generation gap is often proving to be a challenge for employers, they must understand that the rules of the talent game have changed and the need to adapt to the demands of employees of today. This includes revision in compensation benefits, providing them with more opportunities for career growth and an acceptable sense of community. Employees, on the other hand, must focus on upskilling and developing themselves to be more adaptive, and professionally dynamic in the workplace.

When there’s a balance between the two, the talent market will stabilise.

(The author is the vice president & global head (HR & knowledge management and talent development) at SunTec Business Solutions)