Shored up by the heavy dependence on digitalization across sectors, the market for tech talent in India has been booming since the last quarter of the previous financial year. From niche tech start-ups to big IT MNCs the jobs are everywhere. Top Indian IT services companies saw an uptick of 44% in their hiring in the fiscal 2021 over the previous year, according to their annual reports. IT research and consulting firm Everest Group sees this trend continuing in the next financial year as well, because of offshore IT services work moving to India.

What does this all boil down to? 

It is important for companies to communicate boldly and loudly that they’re hiring. To create that deep talent pool, it is essential to send the message that it’s not just the attractive pay package that they’re offering, but also to clearly explain the company’s policies which will provide a stepping stone to the employee to grow in their career. The young professionals, with hot IT skills and probably three or four job offers in their kitty, must be convinced that your offer is the best for the long haul and not just a contract for six months.

Given the current situation, the size of an organization doesn’t matter anymore. The current talent pool is looking for flexibility of work, rapid growth and learning curve, and an acute focus on physical and mental wellbeing for employees.  

Even a lean & fast-growing Technology company of 450+ people can provide its employee with a career growth path which is more attractive than an offer from a large organization. It can nurture new employees providing the platform to make it to the next stage of their career. It must become the organization where the contribution of every employee gets validation and recognition. Get in and stay with us and we will nurture you and help your serious career growth while taking care of you; that’s the message. According to the US Small Business Administration, small businesses, which represent more than 99.7% of all employers in the US, tend to be nimble and may succeed regardless of how the economy is doing. Also, small firms are usually not burdened with high overheads like fancy addresses.

Back in India, the IT talent crunch is hitting companies across all sectors – from mega MNCs to niche start-ups. To tap the best talent, it’s more important than ever for companies scouting for people to make themselves known to future employees. A company must pitch itself as the place where talent is encouraged through clear and concise career development paths. 

While bigger pay packets are important, they are certainly not the only factor. To attract IT talent, careers are as important as compensation. New employees need to be encouraged to grow and learn on the job. From helping them to upgrade their skills to learning to multi-skill and cross-skill, the organization needs to be open to supporting employees. Learning and upskilling opportunities should be provided to even experienced, mid-level resources. From the perspective of the HR leaders, understanding the learning gaps of employees and helping them fill those will create a better talent pipeline. Considering that there is a frenzied hiring spree of IT talent in the US and even more in India, finding the right candidate who is out there in the market is important and retaining them even more so.

With work from home becoming the model across industries, talent has literally left the building and is not coming back anytime soon. Since the first quarter of 2020, all around the world, more and more employers are embracing flexible schedules for their remote teams leading to new remote work trends. According to Global Workplace Analytics, 25-30% of the global workforce will work remotely by 2021-22. In India, the top IT talent today is spread across different parts of the country. The good news for recruiters is that you can hire from anywhere. Most offer letters these days come with a hybrid role. With everyone adopting the hybrid workforce model, the talent pool has doubled, and companies must adapt this. On one hand this means that your investment in real estate is going down with no need for swanky offices; it also means that you must create new HR policies for a robust hybrid model. 

As the talent gap is rising, hiring managers have to sell stories, not the roles to new employees to attract them. Your Employer Branding & Marketing will play the role of collaborator here and Your Talent & People team must be the enabler.