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New Talent Paradigms in the ER&D sector
New Talent Paradigms in the ER&D sector

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Key highlights from the Expert Forums from the NASSCOM ER&D Showcase 2021 Session 2 conducted with Industry experts and leaders

The Covid pandemic has changed the way we all work. The lockdowns have pushed the companies to adopt newer ways of working. The ER&D sector in India has witnessed record growth in the past year and the future outlook for the industry also indicates high growth. According to NASSCOM research, the global ER&D spend is expected to be USD 2 trillion by 2025, of which USD 200 billion will be in the form of outsourced services. India’s share in this is expected to be in excess of USD 50 billion in 2025, up from USD 31 billion in FY2020.

 

How can India Inc. capture this growth and leverage the existing talent?

Information Technology is the fastest decaying knowledge industry. What was relevant 12-18 months ago may not be relevant now. The key challenge remains knowledge management and skilling of the existing workforce.

Talent is the only arbitrage using which companies can grow and capture the organic as well as inorganic growth of the sector. Since the ER&D sector has manufacturing-led processes, there are fewer tenured engineers and subject matter experts. The companies must continue to hire engineers and subject matter experts to innovate.

 

Has the Covid pandemic led to a reverse brain drain?

There has been a steady flow of talent from across all countries into India, whether covid related or not. Across the globe, the ER&D sector has truly become globalized and now companies do not want disproportionate concentration in one country, rather want to mirror the competencies across different countries.

The pandemic has put pressure on faster digital adoption and the companies must invest and harness a culture of innovation. The companies must create an environment to foster the culture and understanding of innovation to encourage their workforce to continuously innovate.

On the other hand, it is generally understood that engineers want to be involved in projects which produce "tangible" results. These projects require patience and time, failing which the engineers change their domains. It is important for companies to rotate the engineers across functions and departments to keep their interests intact.

 

How should companies address the different needs of the workforce and manage the diversity of skillsets?

 

Workforce

 

1. It is necessary for companies to have a combination of fresh graduates as well as experts in their workforce so one can combine domain, product, and technological knowledge of the experts along with the agility and flexibility that the new graduates bring.

2. There is a skill gap between school education and industry needs. Therefore, the workforce needs to be not only upskilled but re-skilled and initiatives taken by NASSCOM’s FutureSkills are bridging this gap.

3. At the same time, as a result of the pandemic, employees must be more open to learning, be agile, and flexible to adapt. Focusing on a particular domain and becoming domain experts is crucial. It is important to learn, unlearn and re-learn.

4. In addition, rotation of the workforce across geographies and functions is essential to hone their talents well.  

 

Is Gig economy going to play a vital role in the future in ER&D organizations?

The gig economy is expected to gain momentum in the near future. It offers flexibility not only to the employees, but also to the employers. Additionally, it is cost-effective too. However, there are many challenges as well. Many R&D projects are long-term, upto 2-3 years. The unpredictability of gig workers to take on long-term projects, IP complications, the unwillingness of customers to have contract employees on the projects, all can pose problems for the gig economy to flourish in the ER&D sector.

As organizations across the world are experimenting with newer ways of working, different ideas and plans must be put in place for employees to collaborate effectively and productively. Transformation and reinvention of the talent paradigms will enable them to achieve the organization’s objectives efficiently.

 

To read the first blog of this series, click on https://community.nasscom.in/communities/engineering-research-design/secret-sauce-create-winning-innovation-culture-erd-sector

To read more about the "The Impact Makers of Indian ER&D: Winners of the first edition of the NASSCOM Engineering & Innovation Excellence Awards 2021", please check the following links below - 

NASSCOM Website - https://nasscom.in/knowledge-center/publications/impact-makers-indian-erd

NASSCOM Community - https://community.nasscom.in/communities/engineering-research-design/impact-makers-indian-erd-winners-first-edition-nasscom


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Vandhna Babu
Principal Analyst - Research

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