Leading Innovation with India as the Next Digital Talent Hub

Digital innovation coupled with ace talent is making India an enticing destination for global captive centers. The local technology market today is agile and adaptive, enabling incumbents to make the most of this growing vertical. As per IBEF, India owned a market share of over 55% of the USD 200-250 billion global services sourcing industry in 2019-2020. Top that with the low demand and supply gap of 21.1% which is rare given today’s talent crunch situation.

The captivating capabilities

Organizations across the globe have now become comfortable running high-level knowledge processes from their GCCs. The availability of quality talent, cost advantage and maturity of GCC models are driving the growth of the GCC ecosystem. India is emerging as a hub for talent across functions and is ballooning up with the presence of more than 1500 GCCs at various maturity levels. The homegrown digital talent of India, especially skilled in emerging technologies has made its name for being a major value add to corporations all over the world. From new entrants to established GCCs, Indian tech talent is fueling rapid growth for all. With over 1.3 million employees and a revenue of USD 33.8 billion, the ecosystem is witnessing covetable growth. Projections suggest that the GCC sector may scale up to an additional USD 25-50 billion in the coming five years. This would result in a gross output of USD 180-260 billion and in turn, would generate employment opportunities for about 6-8 million people.

According to NASSCOM, India’s technology industry employed over 5.1 million people in FY22, of which 1.6 million were digitally skilled. The abundance of next-generation talent has been a key factor in placing India in the limelight. Besides, the speed and scale of innovation and digital transformation have contributed immensely to the flourishing ecosystem. Credit should also go to the emergence of both Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities which are enabling experimentation as well as efficiency for global players to leverage.

Key challenges

The road, however, is as rough as it is rosy. There are challenges at play that have been turning the tech landscape into a battlefield. Of course, most of them have to do with talent. The low demand and supply gap may look favorable at a glimpse. A deeper look, nevertheless, may unveil the unsustainability of this talent model. Employers, today, are struggling to snag top talent due to reasons that vary from a lack of agility in recruitment to a shortage of vetted talent pools. While some businesses are finding it hard to optimize hiring costs, some are failing to create a candidate experience that converts prospects into employees.

How to future-proof your business

A fresh outlook and approach are needed when it comes to prepping for the future. Businesses often miss out on achieving their true potential due to the non-existence of a purpose. A purpose connects businesses to people, be it candidates or customers. Organizations must be ready to stand up for causes and beliefs that benefit humanity at large.

Setting a value proposition and value agenda is what makes any business different and unique from other organizations. Imagine this as the backbone of any business offering. Unless people see a brand as indispensable for fulfilling a certain requirement, it will be easily erased from their collective memory as well as the market.

Company culture goes way beyond birthday and anniversary emails to employees. It is largely made up of the belongingness people feel in an organization. One way to revamp company culture and enhance productivity is by decentralizing decision-making. Instead of leaving decisions to C-Suite leaders and business heads, it will give organizations the advantage of time and accountability if teams are empowered to make critical decisions.

To build the workforce of the future, we must invest in building the skills of the future. In today’s dynamic age, every skill is replaced in a blink. Organizations must reskill and upskill their employees to create sustainability and future readiness. This is the only way they can overcome the short shelf life of digital skills as we see them today.

The GCC landscape of India is evolving as we speak, turning the country into a powerhouse to be reckoned with. While the opportunity is unmissable and, by a large degree, inevitable, with rising scale and volume, the obstacles will magnify too. It’s time we spotted the action points and got cracking.