The road ahead - TJinsite October 2013
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VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2013</strong><br />
H I R I N G & B E Y O N D<br />
www.content.timesjobs.com<br />
“<strong>The</strong> key is to analyse<br />
alternatives and facilitate<br />
the redundant staff”<br />
A G RAO, MD<br />
MANPOWERGROUP<br />
Pg8<br />
Recession is the Time to<br />
Rethink & Replenish<br />
ABHIJIT BHADURI<br />
CLO & CHRD<br />
WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES<br />
Pg4<br />
Pg2<br />
India Inc does<br />
have reason<br />
to celebrate!<br />
LOOK FORWARD<br />
TO REVIVAL IN<br />
THE JOB MARKET<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>road</strong> <strong>ahead</strong><br />
(India Inc. hopes for a silver lining)<br />
Find TimesJobs.com’s career articles, expert advise and tips @ www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Jobs & Career section
HIRING & BEYOND<br />
www.content.timesjobs.com<br />
VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER ISSUE<br />
Cover Story<br />
IndIa Inc. does have reason to celebrate!<br />
Despite the economic doomsday theories, our survey indicates that<br />
we can look forward to a revival in the job market…<br />
A<br />
mid the current economic turmoil,<br />
India Inc is hoping for a revival that<br />
will set the GDP on track and will<br />
turn the job market around. According to<br />
the latest Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asia<br />
Business Sentiment survey, while business<br />
sentiment among Asia's top companies<br />
weakened in the third quarter, optimism<br />
returned to India Inc. In the light of this,<br />
TimesJobs.com undertook a study to explore<br />
the reasons for India Inc’s upbeat outlook.<br />
India will be the preferred job<br />
destination<br />
According to the survey, despite the<br />
slowdown; India Inc is positive that India<br />
will remain a preferred job destination for<br />
the majority of the workforce. About 37 per<br />
cent of the surveyed organisations stated<br />
that more Indians will choose to work in<br />
India, than ab<strong>road</strong>, in spite of the<br />
tumultuous economic conditions.<br />
IT/Telecom and Manufacturing &<br />
Engineering industries are expected to lead<br />
the pack, as far as hiring is concerned.<br />
BPO/ITeS and FMCG/Retail will follow suit.<br />
Elaborating on this, Dr. Pallab<br />
Regus Business Confidence Index<br />
findings:<br />
l Companies reporting revenue<br />
growth in India have increased<br />
from 63% to 66% while those<br />
reporting profit growth have flatlined<br />
at 54%<br />
<strong>The</strong> top four efficiency outcomes<br />
for India are:<br />
l Improved staff retention (49%)<br />
l Less fixed office space (43%)<br />
l Higher return on investment on<br />
marketing and advertising (42%)<br />
l Cost effective services providers<br />
(33%)<br />
Bandyopadhyay, director-HR, Citrix India<br />
commented that the risk-taking ability of<br />
the Indian workforce has gone up. This can<br />
be judged by the fact that many students<br />
from premier B-Schools are increasingly<br />
turning entrepreneurs. And, they want to<br />
stay in India and start their own business.<br />
For the international workforce/companies,<br />
India is an emerging market and good for<br />
their business expansion plans. Giving<br />
example of the mobile market, Dr.<br />
Bandyopadhyay maintained that for mobile<br />
technology, India is the second largest<br />
market, only next to the US, and has job<br />
opportunities in the segment.<br />
According to Sangeeta Lala, co-founder and<br />
senior VP, Teamlease, India is at an<br />
advantageous position as it has an abundant<br />
supply of job seekers and their skills and<br />
education are of better quality than the rest<br />
of the subcontinent.<br />
Changes in compensation and<br />
technology<br />
However, there are things that the slowdown<br />
will change – one is the way the Indian<br />
workforce is compensated. Close to 46 per<br />
<strong>The</strong> pace India generated early in the last<br />
decade may have been difficult to sustain<br />
and like its emerging peers, our country<br />
is now witnessing a slowdown. Weak<br />
global cues apart, the home market that<br />
provided India an element of economic<br />
invulnerability, has also been (hopefully<br />
only temporarily) impacted.<br />
That said, and with some caveats, the long<br />
term prospects of India remain bullish. It<br />
continues to be a growing economy which<br />
is largely internally driven and has a<br />
burgeoning middle class that produces<br />
almost a quarter of the world's new<br />
workers over the next few years. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
are bound to be skill gaps in this young<br />
workforce but with the increasing<br />
obsession with education and the right<br />
interventions, this shortcoming can be<br />
overcome.<br />
<br />
<br />
2<br />
cent of the employers believe that<br />
compensation design will have more<br />
variable pay structure and will focus on<br />
performance driven compensation, pointed<br />
out the survey. Another 37 per cent predict<br />
compensation growth will remain average.<br />
Supporting the survey outcome, Dr.<br />
Bandyopadhyay remarked that<br />
organisations are aligning their employees<br />
to the volatile market ecosystem with<br />
performance driven compensation<br />
structure. High performers are rewarded<br />
and recognised via variable pay component.<br />
Employers also give options such as stocks,<br />
ESOPs and profit sharing to employees,<br />
which are subject to level of employee and<br />
the size of the organisation.<br />
Another change is technology, over 60 per<br />
cent of the organisations see technology as<br />
an enabler in faster growth of the economy<br />
and they are hopeful that it will create new<br />
job roles, in the future.<br />
Lala adds that technology will be the fourth<br />
multiplier of the Indian economy. It will<br />
help in job creation across segments,<br />
especially in automation and analytics<br />
domain.<br />
‘Long-term prospects of India look bullish’<br />
In spite of this economic down-turn and<br />
major ambiguities around the political<br />
environment in India, employer hiring<br />
intentions in the long term should remain<br />
positive in many sectors.<br />
Infrastructure, transportation and<br />
utilities should see continued demand.<br />
Any improvement in global cues and the<br />
technological advancements will further<br />
improve IT and ITeS sector employers’<br />
hiring intents.<br />
We may also see a revival in the employee<br />
hiring plans in the overall services sector;<br />
wholesale and retail trade sector. <strong>The</strong><br />
proposal for additional licenses for banks<br />
and Indian government’s efforts to reduce<br />
red tape in getting foreign direct<br />
investment in certain sectors will also<br />
create positive atmosphere for hiring.<br />
Shrutidhar Paliwal, Vice President & Head - Corporate Communication and Media Relations – Aptech Ltd
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VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER ISSUE<br />
Highlights<br />
Well defined job roles will be the game changer<br />
A<br />
ccording to a recently concluded survey by TimesJobs.com to<br />
gauge the changes that the slowdown will bring in the way we<br />
work, compensate and engage, over 60 per cent of the<br />
organisations believe that going forward India Inc will increase<br />
focus on getting hiring right by defining job roles more precisely and<br />
specifically. Industry experts believe that well defined job roles are<br />
crucial not only for employees but also for overall organisational<br />
growth. By clearly defining job roles, organisations set the right<br />
expectation for the employee. It reduces any sort of confusion and<br />
misunderstanding at a later stage.<br />
Another 20 per cent of the organisations believe that companies will<br />
be forced to think hard about their employer brand, especially in the<br />
online space, as part of their future strategy. With the war for talent<br />
intensifying, technology savvy employers are recognising the worth<br />
of an effective online employer branding strategy. <strong>The</strong>y understand<br />
that reaching out to a larger talent pool by strong marketing and<br />
branding strategies is the need of the hour. <strong>The</strong> focus would be to<br />
tailor one’s approach to address a different set of audience in both<br />
the online and offline space and the internal and external context.<br />
ccording to 66 per cent of the surveyed organisation, in the<br />
new world of work, companies will have lean teams, with a lot<br />
Aof focus on productivity. <strong>The</strong> dynamic business environment<br />
of today demands high speed process with quality assurance.<br />
Experts believe that building lean teams is the way forward. Creating<br />
and managing work process with horizontal focus rather than a<br />
vertical one is a better technique to get the competitive edge in<br />
today’s fast moving workplace functions. However, since this concept<br />
is not very common in India Inc, to implement this approach the<br />
entire perspective, outlook and business functionalities and culture<br />
needs to be reinvented. Organisations affirm that all the effort is<br />
worth the outcome as this is indeed going to boost business<br />
productivity. <strong>The</strong> survey also pointed out that approximately 22 per<br />
cent of the employers see increase in flexible options<br />
/telecommuting in the future workplace. This trend has been<br />
catching pace in Indian organisations, lately. Growth of flexible work<br />
options in the future is much anticipated and desired by the<br />
workforce and employers, alike.<br />
O<br />
ne thing that will not be change in the future is the need for<br />
skilled professionals. According to the survey, close to 78 per<br />
cent of the surveyed organisations stated that skills will be<br />
the most important criterion while hiring a candidate. Other factors<br />
such as education, experience have become secondary. While skills<br />
are the primary decisive factor while recruiting, skill deficit will<br />
continue to pose a big challenge for India Inc in future, revealed the<br />
survey. Over 50 per cent of the surveyed organisations believe that<br />
skills shortfall will be a big impediment for themin future. Though,<br />
29 per cent are optimistic that the scenario will improve, as<br />
academic and industry partnerships will bear fruit. Another 15 per<br />
cent feel that things will get better, as government intervention in<br />
the talent development plan will ensure a skilled workforce.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3<br />
What do you believe<br />
will change in the<br />
recruitment space<br />
in the near future?<br />
Doing more with less will be the focus<br />
Skills are and will be most desired<br />
Well defined job roles,<br />
more focus on getting<br />
hiring right<br />
Companies will be<br />
forced to think hard<br />
about their employer<br />
brand, especially in the<br />
online space<br />
Nothing will change,<br />
once the downturn is<br />
over things will be back<br />
to the usual<br />
What will the new world of work look like?<br />
Companies will have lean<br />
teams, with a lot of focus<br />
on productivity<br />
Flexible options -<br />
telecommuting<br />
Companies will continue<br />
to have a hire and fire<br />
policy
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VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER ISSUE<br />
Guest Column<br />
‘Recession is the time to rethink and replenish’<br />
hile watching the movie Bhag Milkha Bhag I started to notice how the runners use the<br />
time between the sprints. <strong>The</strong>y use this time to prepare themselves to win the next<br />
Wevent. <strong>The</strong>y use the down time to rest their muscles, catch their breath and rethink their<br />
strategy and approach to competition. <strong>The</strong> best of the runners use the lean period to prepare for<br />
the next race.<br />
An erstwhile leader in consumer electronics was forced to rethink its business model during the<br />
last downturn. <strong>The</strong>y used the stagnant market in TV and audio-visual segments to rethink<br />
themselves as a health and well-being company instead. Today more than 40% of their revenue<br />
comes from the healthcare market. <strong>The</strong>y used the downturn to gain a large market share of this<br />
rapidly growing segment. To truly take advantage of the opportunities in this new segment, they<br />
have to rethink their talent portfolio too. <strong>The</strong>y have to evaluate which skills will have to be<br />
brought in from outside and which ones will be easier for the current employees to learn.<br />
While organisations and individuals get distressed when there is a slowdown, this is actually a<br />
time that can help us get the first mover advantage when the markets open up. Peaks and troughs<br />
in business cycles need different approaches.<br />
Abhijit Bhaduri<br />
Chief Learning Officer & Head of CHRD<br />
Wipro Technologies<br />
Abhijit Bhaduri works as<br />
the Chief Learning<br />
Officer for the Wipro<br />
group. He lives in<br />
Bangalore, India. Prior to<br />
this he led HR teams at<br />
Microsoft, PepsiCo,<br />
Colgate and Tata Steel<br />
and worked in India, SE<br />
Asia and US. He is on the<br />
Advisory Board of<br />
Wharton's prestigious<br />
program for Chief<br />
Learning Officers that is<br />
run by the University of<br />
Pennsylvania. He is an<br />
adviser on Social Media<br />
usage for SHRM in India.<br />
He is among the top ten<br />
HR influencers on Social<br />
Media according to<br />
SHRM, India. Abhijit is<br />
the author of two works<br />
of fiction. His most<br />
recent book about hiring<br />
is called Don’t Hire the<br />
Best.<br />
What can<br />
organisations do?<br />
Rethink the business<br />
model: Consumer behaviour<br />
changes during recession.<br />
Research shows that during<br />
slowdowns, consumers’<br />
spending habits change.<br />
People eat out less often, but<br />
their spending on<br />
entertainment increases<br />
significantly.<br />
Some industries do better<br />
during recession eg the<br />
insurance industry. Softer<br />
business growth may shrink<br />
the market for some products<br />
it also opens up new market<br />
with vast untapped<br />
opportunities. <strong>The</strong>se markets<br />
need new business models<br />
and products and services<br />
that are custom made for<br />
these pockets.<br />
Rethink competition: When<br />
the business model changes,<br />
the competitive landscape<br />
may change. <strong>The</strong><br />
organisation may now need to<br />
think of a different set of<br />
competitors. <strong>The</strong>se nontraditional<br />
competitors could<br />
prove to be far more lethal<br />
than the traditional ones.<br />
A leading MNC snackmanufacturer<br />
found itself<br />
conceding market share in<br />
some states to local producers<br />
with significantly smaller<br />
distribution costs. <strong>The</strong>ir sales<br />
and marketing team could not<br />
handle the guerilla marketing<br />
tactics that these local players<br />
were adept in.<br />
Rethink your talent<br />
portfolio: During the<br />
recession, hiring slows down.<br />
This is the ideal time to<br />
revisit your talent pool. What<br />
skills do you not have enough<br />
of ? What are the skills that<br />
are not as relevant in the new<br />
environment? It is a good<br />
time to identify skills that are<br />
in short supply for the new<br />
marketplace.<br />
Many firms use this time to<br />
hire talented people who may<br />
have been laid off or are<br />
shaky about continuing with<br />
their current employer. This<br />
is a time to invest heavily in<br />
developing the talent pipeline.<br />
You may be able to leverage<br />
the slowdown to tie up with a<br />
top notch academic<br />
institution or professor who<br />
would have turned up their<br />
nose in better times.<br />
What can<br />
individuals do?<br />
Rethink your career: <strong>The</strong><br />
career opportunities that<br />
arise when the economy is on<br />
a fast track are different from<br />
those that show up during<br />
times of slowdown.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new markets and<br />
consumers may provide a<br />
great opportunity for you to<br />
become an entrepreneur.<br />
Once the economy picks up<br />
pace, so will your new<br />
venture. That also means that<br />
career opportunities will<br />
probably emerging in nontraditional<br />
sectors.<br />
If you have a skill gap, the<br />
employers may be more<br />
willing to invest in bridging a<br />
small gap to make you a<br />
perfect fit. This maybe the<br />
best time to find your dream<br />
job. Before you jump ship<br />
remember that during<br />
slowdown, the employers give<br />
you a shorter runway before<br />
they expect you to start<br />
delivering results.<br />
Replenish your skills: Use<br />
the time to invest in building<br />
your career. Take the course<br />
that you always wanted to and<br />
sharpen your skills. <strong>The</strong> new<br />
market realities will create<br />
new career tracks that did not<br />
exist before.<br />
A few years back, a career in<br />
analytics was less<br />
mainstream. Today there are<br />
many more employers who<br />
are looking for people with<br />
degrees in statistics or<br />
operations research and are<br />
prepared to offer them<br />
attractive career<br />
opportunities.<br />
Writing content for the web<br />
was not a career option a few<br />
years back – now it is. Take<br />
advantage of the slowdown to<br />
get certified because once the<br />
recession is over, you won’t<br />
have this luxury.<br />
While the majority of<br />
individuals and organisations<br />
think of the slowdown as a<br />
time to wait and watch, there<br />
are a few who use this time to<br />
emerge stronger than ever.<br />
4
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VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER ISSUE<br />
Social Chatter<br />
Is there a silver lining for India Inc in the global<br />
slowdown?<br />
Most of the top business leaders<br />
(Domestic /Foreigner) are concerned about<br />
these 3 things, which will usher India Inc.<br />
to the next phase of growth:<br />
l Availability of low cost skilled human<br />
resource. HR is a major component of the<br />
cost of production/service. That's why<br />
even foreign companies are eyeing India<br />
l Improving democracy. A democratic<br />
institution makes better<br />
policies/decisions in transparent way<br />
l 2014 Lok Sabha election. Indian<br />
leadership really needs a change. A<br />
change will bring fresh energy<br />
Alok Singh Chauhan<br />
Business Development &<br />
Marketing professional<br />
Social<br />
Media<br />
Chatter<br />
lWhile it may look messy<br />
and directionless, in the<br />
eyes of insiders, for outside<br />
friends, India Inc is an<br />
oasis of stability<br />
lDiversity and surprises<br />
may pull out the rabbit<br />
from that magical hat. Mass<br />
self motivation is<br />
prescribed<br />
Thomas AW, Strategic Director &<br />
Chief Motivator at Stone Mirror<br />
Institute of Contemporary<br />
Management Studies<br />
No, nothing much to rejoice yet, but<br />
certainly some reasons to feel better -<br />
that the government is finally waking up<br />
to the fact that it needs to pro-actively<br />
support investments, manufacturing,<br />
infrastructure, deficit control, etc. if the<br />
government continues to be steadfast in<br />
this new resolve, not just India Inc but all<br />
of us will have a lot to rejoice; a lot of our<br />
capital and demographic advantages will<br />
be put to use and not be frittered away.<br />
Pankaj Maheshwari,<br />
Head - Corporate<br />
Coverage - North India<br />
Credit Agricole CIB<br />
Yes, the government has been<br />
indecisive for the past 3 years in<br />
certain issues. However the<br />
fundamental of the Indian Economy<br />
based on strong domestic demand due<br />
to demographic advantage, agriculture<br />
growth and better controlled financial<br />
institutions will give us reason to<br />
cheer. This slowdown is a good time to<br />
penetrate to rural markets, expand<br />
capacities. Labour reforms, decreasing<br />
bureaucratic control and incentive<br />
system for government employees to<br />
work will help to grow further.<br />
To me it is a matter of<br />
perspective, yes every<br />
industry is stagnating and<br />
unable to grow, thanks to the<br />
policy paralysis, the only<br />
action that got taken is now<br />
burning in AP. If I were to<br />
look for the silver lining the<br />
only one I can see is that<br />
elections are around the<br />
corner, hopefully they will<br />
come with a conscience.<br />
Shyleswari Mohan, OD Consultant<br />
Ajatshatru Kaushal,<br />
PGPX (Strategy and<br />
Data Analytics)<br />
5
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Industry can train for technical skills;<br />
academia should focus on soft skills:<br />
Hyderabad Meet<br />
VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER ISSUE<br />
Events<br />
EVENTS<br />
CALENDAR<br />
U<br />
nderstanding the need to<br />
address campus<br />
recruitment and<br />
engagement in the current<br />
scenario, TimesJobs.com in<br />
association with ICBM-SBE<br />
hosted a panel discussion in<br />
Hyderabad focused on ‘<strong>The</strong><br />
Campus Code <strong>2013</strong>: Decoding the<br />
New Age strategies’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> panel included Nimish<br />
Gupta, global head – learning<br />
and development, Tech<br />
Mahindra; Sadras Raghunadhan<br />
Sriram, head-human capital, DE<br />
Shaw India Software; Dr. Murali<br />
Padmanabhan, senior director<br />
and global head learning &<br />
leadership development,<br />
Virtusa; PM Nanjappa, senior<br />
VP-HR, Advanta Ltd; Dr. K<br />
Panduranga Rao, group head-<br />
HRD & administration, IVRCL;<br />
Joy Dupati, head-talent<br />
acquisition; Hitachi Consulting;<br />
Sanju Patra, head-talent<br />
acquisition, Ramky<br />
Infrastructure and professor S.<br />
Zaraar, director & principal,<br />
ICBM SBE.<br />
Starting the discussion, Dupati<br />
of Hitachi Consulting stated, “In<br />
our company, we have defined<br />
critical business factors such as<br />
communication, initiative,<br />
adaptability, ownership which<br />
are common for entry level as<br />
well as lateral talent. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
factors are essential for our<br />
company’s DNA.”<br />
According to Dr. Padmanabhan<br />
of Virtusa, skills can be taught<br />
and a good quality candidate is<br />
Key Takeaways<br />
l During selection,<br />
academia should<br />
assess candidates’<br />
suitability<br />
l Academia should<br />
have a department to<br />
teach soft skills to<br />
students<br />
l To engage Gen Y,<br />
companies needs to<br />
focus on social<br />
acceptability of the<br />
job<br />
l Companies should<br />
sensitise managers<br />
and HR to deal with<br />
GEN Y<br />
l Business ethics<br />
should be part of<br />
academic curriculum<br />
l Students are looking<br />
for career path; not<br />
just job roles<br />
one who can become quickly<br />
independent and productive.<br />
Campus hires take at least 6<br />
months to 1 year to be<br />
productive. “And, when freshers<br />
are injected into a project team,<br />
the overall team productivity<br />
comes down by 40% as it<br />
requires huge effort to train and<br />
supervise them.”<br />
6<br />
What is the disconnect between<br />
academic outcome and what<br />
industry wants? According to<br />
Dr. Rao of IVRCL, universities<br />
are producing resources by the<br />
book, without understanding<br />
their suitability keeping in mind<br />
industry need. And, this creates<br />
a divide between the talent pool<br />
available and industry<br />
requirement.<br />
Should academia produce talent<br />
according to industry? To this<br />
end Dr. Padmanabhan replied<br />
that industry-academia<br />
collaborations are essential,<br />
however academia also has to<br />
fulfill its larger purpose of<br />
giving education for academic<br />
excellence. <strong>The</strong>y can’t just<br />
produce talent for industrial<br />
jobs, so they have to be slightly<br />
more conscious while tailoring<br />
curriculum according to<br />
industry needs.<br />
Adding to this, Raghunadhan of<br />
DE Shaw India software<br />
commented that technical skills<br />
should be imparted by the<br />
academia and industry can train<br />
resources according to their<br />
specific requirement. <strong>The</strong><br />
intervention is required in soft<br />
skills and cultural orientation of<br />
the students. And in the current<br />
scenario, where there is interindustry<br />
talent exchange,<br />
changing curriculum as per<br />
industry trend might not be<br />
appropriate.<br />
Another big challenge is<br />
assessing the cultural<br />
adaptability of young graduates<br />
Upcoming Events<br />
NHRDN Annual<br />
Conference <strong>2013</strong><br />
21st – 23rd November,<br />
<strong>2013</strong><br />
Swabhumi, <strong>The</strong> Heritage<br />
Plaza, Kolkata<br />
Organised by: NHRDN<br />
Contact: Dhananjay Singh<br />
Tel: +919810621191<br />
dhananjay.singh@nationalhrd.org<br />
and how soon they will start<br />
contributing to the organisation,<br />
said Nanjappa of Advanta ltd.<br />
“When we hire students from<br />
campuses, we want to train<br />
them and retain them for a<br />
reasonable period.”<br />
“More than technical skills, we<br />
look for a candidate who can<br />
adapt to a challenging work<br />
environment and is ready to<br />
work in remote locations. Today,<br />
students are not ready to take<br />
such jobs and hence move to<br />
other sectors”, said Sanju Patra,<br />
head-talent acquisition, Ramky<br />
Infrastructure.<br />
Underling another major issue<br />
in entry level talent, Gupta of<br />
Tech Mahindra highlighted that<br />
candidates lack basic knowledge<br />
that cannot be taught at the<br />
industry level. ‘<strong>The</strong>re are three<br />
basic skills which we look for<br />
technical, behavioural/<br />
leadership and domain<br />
expertise.”<br />
TimesJobs.com’s View: <strong>The</strong><br />
actual relationship between the<br />
industry-academia should start<br />
before the placement season and<br />
continue beyond it. This connect<br />
should not be only limited to<br />
designing curriculum, but<br />
should move to training the<br />
faculty, pinpointing employable<br />
skills and together, mentoring<br />
students to make them<br />
productive and job-ready. Both<br />
stakeholder need to understand<br />
the expectations of GEN-Y. This<br />
would ensure a sustained<br />
industry-academia connect.
HIRING & BEYOND<br />
www.content.timesjobs.com<br />
VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER ISSUE<br />
7
HIRING & BEYOND<br />
www.content.timesjobs.com<br />
VOLUME-III | ISSUE 11<br />
OCTOBER ISSUE<br />
Expert Speak<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> key is to analyse alternatives & facilitate redundant staff’<br />
Do you anticipate job revival in the near<br />
future?<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a huge demand supply gap in the<br />
hiring industry. In the coming 6 months<br />
India Inc’s hiring plans are expected to pick<br />
up but at a slower rate. <strong>The</strong>re is a scope for<br />
improvement in the net business outlook.<br />
<strong>The</strong> talent from tier II and tier III cities<br />
seems to attract great jobs <strong>ahead</strong>, specially<br />
engineers and MBA’s. <strong>The</strong> focus remains to<br />
hire fewer but better quality personnel.<br />
<strong>The</strong> private insurance segment, public and<br />
private banks, franchising industry, mining<br />
industry are likely to rise and create great<br />
opportunities from last year, as big players<br />
will eye more business in India.We do expect<br />
the Indian economy to do better in the<br />
second half of the FY14, attributed to the<br />
growth of the core sector, exports and credit<br />
to some sectors.<br />
Flexible staffing is gaining momentum in<br />
the world due to complex business<br />
situations in the fast changing world. Just in<br />
time hiring model is being adopted by firms<br />
depending on the number of projects and<br />
their size.<br />
From this point, how do you foresee the<br />
future of the job market in India?<br />
Hiring will surely see an upswing in the last<br />
quarter of <strong>2013</strong> as most economies are<br />
coming out of slowdown and the demand<br />
from domestic as well as international<br />
markets would create many job<br />
opportunities. After remaining mostly<br />
stagnant in 2012 due to global economic<br />
slowdown, Indian job market is expected to<br />
grow only at a modest pace next year,<br />
although still better than other countries.<br />
Although the sectoral data might vary, the<br />
engineering, BFSI, social media industry,<br />
aviation industry are the key sectors which<br />
might see a bloom. Despite the economic<br />
weaknesses and ups and downs, job growth<br />
will continue.<br />
Which profiles would be in demand?<br />
Which positions will be most sought<br />
after – fresher/mid-level/top<br />
management?<br />
l <strong>The</strong> top Indian IT majors, who together<br />
account for a combined workforce of over<br />
650,000, are now focusing on lateral and<br />
specialised hiring even while recruiting<br />
fresh graduates. <strong>The</strong> IT sector will focus<br />
on hiring for niche skills in the tough<br />
market, such as SAP, Cloud computing,<br />
Big Data, Oracle.<br />
l Demand is also strong for corporate<br />
restructuring experts and mortgage<br />
repossession negotiators.<br />
A G Rao, Managing Director<br />
A G Rao joined<br />
ManpowerGroup India in<br />
December 2012 as<br />
Managing Director. Prior to<br />
joining ManpowerGroup,<br />
AG was Executive President,<br />
Enterprise Business &<br />
Technology - Tata<br />
Teleservices, India. In his<br />
role in Tata Tele, he was<br />
responsible for planning,<br />
implementation &<br />
operations management of<br />
pan-India telecom networks<br />
as CTO and Head of<br />
Enterprise Business Unit.<br />
l High-end healthcare contracts are<br />
creating demand for actuaries, medical<br />
coders, US registered nurses, medical<br />
writers and biostatisticians.<br />
l Rise in demand for profiles like strategic<br />
sourcing which are sector agnostic and<br />
asset reconstruction managers in BFSI.<br />
Salaries for asset reconstruction<br />
managers have doubled as demand has<br />
shot up.<br />
l In times of a slowdown, the job of an asset<br />
reconstruction manager becomes<br />
important as they work with<br />
nonperforming loans/assets to recreate<br />
value.<br />
l In the social media domain, the hot jobs<br />
would be Search Engine Optimisation,<br />
Social media specialist/strategist, Mobile<br />
application developer, Social business<br />
analytics and Digital campaigns manager.<br />
l Other positions in demand:<br />
- Product managers<br />
- Consultants<br />
- Usability specialists<br />
- Online marketing specialists<br />
- Software developers<br />
- Process architects<br />
- Community managers<br />
- Multi-channel project managers<br />
- Sales and customer support roles<br />
Freshers: Employers are keen to provide<br />
internship, and graduates are expected to<br />
take those assignments even if they are not<br />
paid because at the entry level, experience<br />
and exposure to the workplace is a<br />
significant payback. Social-media is<br />
demanding young blood to manage their<br />
social media strategies.<br />
Profiles most suited for freshers as stated by<br />
top employers: Research associates,<br />
Trainees, sales executives etc. Some of the<br />
categories of jobs for freshers in India also<br />
include administrative jobs, sales and<br />
marketing executives, jobs as probationary<br />
officers in banks, technical support<br />
executives and customer support executives,<br />
business/research analysts and medical<br />
transcriptionists.<br />
Mid level Executives: Senior software<br />
developer, Senior engineer, Senior<br />
development specialist, Technical lead,<br />
Project lead, Manager IT, Business<br />
development managers, Relationship<br />
managers in Financial services.<br />
Top level Executives: Demand for women<br />
for top level positions is rising.<br />
Positions include: AVP, VP, Product head,<br />
Director, and Chief manager etc.<br />
What will be the three key trends/<br />
changes anticipated in the recruitment<br />
space, in the near future?<br />
l With a fresh batch of hopefuls awaiting<br />
job opportunities every year, job seekers<br />
will have to be both, competitive and<br />
qualitative in order to secure<br />
employment. Quality of hire is top<br />
priority for Indian employers. Social<br />
professional networks, employer branding<br />
and data driven decisions are among the<br />
top recruiting trends for coming months.<br />
l Considerable emphasis would be on<br />
hiring local talent due to current macroeconomic<br />
scenario, rupee v/s dollar<br />
strength and the rise in expat salaries.<br />
This means that the rupee depreciation<br />
may trigger exploring of local talent<br />
which can fit into the roles earlier<br />
earmarked for expats.<br />
l Most companies will not consider a<br />
reduction in workforce, they will decrease<br />
their hiring efforts by growing internal<br />
talent. Lateral hiring to be considered<br />
internally through promotions as well as<br />
from the industry in new areas. Campus<br />
hiring is likely to be lower than FY2012.<br />
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