More and more employers are struggling to find talent

It seems like the talent crunch is here to stay. Despite dolling out double-digit salary hikes and up to 400 percent annual bonuses, India Inc is having a tough time in retaining talent.

At a time when corporates are freezing increments and cutting jobs, a whopping 48 percent of the employers are struggling to fill up positions in their firms, especially in the ranks of IT, engineers, sales and marketing, said a survey by staffing firm Manpower Group. Even though the situation has improved from last year when 67 percent where unable to fill positions it still larger than the global average of 34 percent. Globally, however, India’s position is still better than other developed nations like the US, Australia and Japan.

“Owing to high growth in the IT sector and increase in the social media presence of organisations, there has been a surge in the demand for IT staff and marketing/communications staff,” ManpowerGroup India Managing Director Sanjay Pandit said.

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The study covered 1,500 employers in India, who were part of the 8,786 employers polled in the Asia Pacific region and 40,000 globally. “Employers in Asia Pacific cited shortage of candidates, lack of technical skill, candidates’ refusal to relocate, poor image of the occupation, weak soft skills and demand for higher remuneration as reasons for trouble in filling jobs,” said an Economic Times report today.

Firms usually face a mismatch between the expertise of a job candidate and the actual skills required, which is why firms invest so heavily in training new recruits. DNA , quotes Santanu Paul, MD, Talent Sprint, a talent management firm, as saying, “In the IT sector, for instance, the average amount spent on training an individual is around Rs 2 lakh.”

However, the IT sector seems to have taken a different path. Rather than looking for permanent staff, companies like NIIT Technologies, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Capgemini prefer hiring niche talent for special contracts.

Pandit, meanwhile, offers a 5-step solution: Hire workers who are a " Teachable Fit", utilise strategic migration, employ flexible workers, recruit within untapped pools of talent like women and youth and expand tapped talent markets.