Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) India Inc is finding it hard to fill in key positions in research, sales and IT due to lack of training and experience, an annual global talent survey said Thursday.

“Sixty-seven percent of employers in India are experiencing difficulty filling mission-critical positions within their organizations like research and development (R&D;), sales and information technology (IT) staff,” said the sixth annual talent shortage survey by global human resource, consultancy and staffing firm ManpowerGroup.

According to the report, the main reason for such supply shortage is the lack of training and the required experience for the positions which are in very high demand by the industry.

Citing the reports finding as alarming, Sanjay Pandit, ManpowerGroup India managing director, said: “The fact that companies are citing a lack of skills or experience as a reason for talent shortages should be a wake-up call for organizations, education, government and individuals.”

According to Pandit, the supply-demand imbalance of the specialised talent type can be addressed by increasing participation and interaction between the industry and other stakeholders including training and skills providers.

“It is imperative that these stakeholders work together to address the supply-and-demand imbalance in the labour market in a systematic, agile and sustainable way,” Pandit added.

A fresh perspectives paper by the same HR consultancy firm also recommends strategies to overcome shortages like updating work models, collaborating with governments, education and individuals for skill development and imparting of training.

The annual report adds that apart from the specialised job profiles, scarcity was also evident in accounting and finance staff, engineering segment, project management, public relations, doctors and other non-nursing health professionals.

Last year, the report claimed that the industry faced lack of talent in cleaners, domestic staff, insurance segment, including qualified brokers, technicians, customer service representatives, customer support and quality controllers.

Globally, the report said that employers in Japan, followed by Brazil, Australia and Taiwan had the most difficulty in placing employees for their region specific demand.

The survey was conducted by interviewing nearly 40,000 employers across 39 countries and territories in the first quarter of 2011 to determine the extent to which talent shortages were impacting global labour markets.