The Impending Crisis of Talent Scarcity

A recent study by the Manpower Group highlighted a very disturbing trend in the Indian Job Market. 61% of Indian Employers struggle to find workers who are able to meet their job requirements. This means that often employers are forced to hire people who are not the right ‘Job Person Fit.’ The company will have to invest in the employee and even then there will be a probability that the employee will not be able to fit the job. This will result in marginal performance by the employee and the company incurring a cost in the long run. This is an ever increasing issue has not escaped the notice of the top management of the organizations. As per the latest CEO Survey by pwc, 81% of the CEO’s listed unavailability of key skills as the biggest threat to their company’s growth. So, why is this issue arising in spite of the Indian education sector churning out more than 30,00,000 lakh graduates and post graduates every year (Nasscom Report).

The important thing to understand here is that quantity does not necessarily translate into quality. So while India may be adding a many potential job applicants to its work force every year only 25% of technical graduates and 10%-15% of regular graduates are considered employable in the Industry. There is significant gap between the skills and competencies that are acquired and what is actually required by the graduates to be successful in the corporate world. And this in turn results in the talent crunch that the market faces.

The major areas where these new graduates are lacking are in soft skills and hard skills. The Indian education system with its emphasis on rote learning does not put enough emphasis on these skills that are critical for success in the workplace.

With the Indian Industry bearing the brunt of the skill shortage crisis, they should partake a greater role in the academia so as to ensure that the new graduates are aligned with the expectations of the employers. Lanco has undertaken various initiatives to build employability such as follows,

• Participation in Curriculum design
• Senior Leadership contributing as Guest Faculty at Various Institutes
• Corporate Participation in campus hiring
• Campus/Young Students invited to visit Project Sites
• Vocational training’s in various Lanco Entities
• Industry Academia Interaction
• Participation in Various Seminars/Conferences/Exhibitions of academic interest

Given the growth potential in India, the demand for employees with high levels of hard and soft skills will only increase. With expansion expected to take place across sectors there already exists a large need for talent. And with companies realizing that the talent shortage can impact their long term growth and strategies, a renewed Industry-Academia relationship needs to be developed for the mutual benefit of both.