A recent annual report of the Indian Staffing Federation revealed insights about India's digital adoption and the related surge in staffing needs.
In the FY23, FinTech, IT- Infra, and IT/ITeS would experience talent demand owing to the fast-paced digital adoption of the country.
Another finding from BusinessToday supports this observation:
India is one of the top nations prioritizing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain as part of embracing digital and pacing into a futuristic world.
In 2021-22, the staffing industry already added 12.6 lakh informal workers to cater to the needs of eCommerce, manufacturing, and consumer-driven industries.
The nation also witnessed a steep increase in workforce demand by 21.9 percent compared to pandemic times which strongly indicates that employers and employees are freeing themselves from the pandemic impact to fulfill their business and professional goals.
Indian tech workforce deepening its global presence: NASSCOM
Two more reports "Impact of Indian Technology companies on the US Economy” and “Building the current and future US workforce: role of the Indian technology industry in the US” jointly released by IT industry association NASSCOM and IHS Markit addressed how businesses are fulfilling their tech talent needs and the contribution of Indian IT companies in the US economy.
The reports highlighted the demand-supply gap in the US tech industry and how India is positioned to meet the global tech talent needs.
In the last year, the Indian IT industry employed 207,000 people in the USA alone, creating $103 billion in revenue, according to NASSCOM. Compared to 2017, these figures indicate a respective rise of 22% and 33%.
The USA also has intensive demand for STEM talent. The next decade will witness 70% growth in IT-related roles and 51% related STEM roles. Experts foresee that this talent demand can trigger human-capital related foreign policies between both nations.
According to Debjani Ghosh, president of NASSCOM, “The Indian technology industry makes critical contributions to the US economy through local investments, fuelling innovation and the labor force, and enabling skill development for the local workforce.”
The learning mindset of Indian techies imparts them the edge
An aspect that gives an edge to Indian talent is their learning mindset. According to various online learning platforms like Coursera and Udemy, professionals are honing their skills themselves to grab the emerging opportunities.
On the other hand, market research finds that companies are aggressively investing in training and employee learning. Accordingly, the projected growth in the investments on skilling up would be 18-25% in 2022.
At present, Indian talent serves more than a 75percent of Fortune500 companies. This figure will rise in the coming decade, thanks to the digital era presenting them the opportunities the professionals here are ready to grab.
Indian workforce is also globally renowned as hardworking. With a little push to bridge the skills gap from the government, educational institutions, and corporates, Indian professionals can emerge victorious in the global job landscape.
Indian Government Initiatives for Bridging the Skills Gap
India boasts of its working-age population that can play a vital role in boosting the nation’s economy. The Indian government has been focusing on skilling up the job aspirants.
The Skill India Mission inaugurated with the vision of increasing the employment rate in the country aims to train 400 million Indian youth in various skills by 2022 with a total budget of 2,785.23 (US$ 379.06 million).
Accordingly, the departments under this mission - The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) – are driving diverse training initiatives.
Role of Corporates in Bridging the Skill Gap
Indian IT sector is one of the largest in the world. The potential of corporates to create a skilled workforce by collaborating with colleges and training institutes is immense.
Here are the feasible strategies for IT companies and educational institutions to collaborate and bridge the skill gap:
- Offer industry-oriented internships for the students in the final and pre-final years.
- Incorporate real-time learning under expert trainers as a part of practical courses.
- Upgrade syllabi with emerging technologies to prepare the students for real-time industry challenges right after graduation.
- Offer IT-related bridge courses and exclusive training programs for students hailing from rural areas and vocational courses.
- Mandate the skilling-up of faculty and training them with the emerging technologies under industry experts.
Let us commit to bridging the skills gap to reimagine the talent landscape
India holds its reputation for delivering brilliant minds and proven leaders across global technology corporations.
By training students with emerging technologies under real-time industry experts, the nation can produce many such global leaders besides generating a wider skilled talent pool.
As leaders and academicians, let us take an oath to contribute our part to this responsible task and make our first move right now!
“Successfully navigating complex change requires the ability to lead people through uncertainty.”? Jason Wingard,
The Great Skills Gap: Optimizing Talent for the Future of Work
About the Author
Mr. Suren Reddy Katta is the Co-Founder of Cloudely Inc., headquartered in California, USA. Cloudely caters to the digital transformation needs of global companies through Tech, Compliance, Staffing, and Training Solutions. His CSR initiative and non-profit, Sri Mathrutva Charitable Trust, based in Hyderabad, India, is committed to fulfilling the blood requirements of Thalassemia patients across India. Connect with Suren Reddy Katta on LinkedIn or email him at hello@cloudely.com.