The Current Trend of Leaving Jobs in the IT Industry
The events that took place in the recent past; corona and its aftermaths have revamped the global economy’s scenario. This can clearly be seen in the Indian market as well.
According to a recent study conducted by TeamLease, an HR solutions firm, as many as 22 lakh Indian IT professionals are likely to quit their jobs by 2025. According to this report, the Indian IT sector has grown dramatically over the last decade. With a 15.5 percent increase, it has reached $227 billion, creating an additional 5.5 lakh jobs in FY22 alone.
Then the question that arises here is, why attrition rate in the IT industry is increasing year-on-year? Let’s dig deep into it and search for the reasons.
Employment Generation in the IT Sector?
In the 21st century, Information technology is ruling the world, with India being considered a knowledge powerhouse. IT-based services have become crucial for the survival of any organization. It not only contributes to increased productivity but also to factors such as efficient growth and ease of doing business.
Due to the quick adoption of digitalization, there are now many job opportunities for IT specialists skilled in both established and emerging technologies. Blockchain, cloud computing, analytics, artificial intelligence, and other cutting-edge technologies stand out from the competition.
In the last two decades, India’s IT industry has grown exponentially, changing global perceptions of India’s knowledge and skills. In fact, India has long been at the forefront of IT and outsourcing services. The Gartner research has also predicted that India will spend more than $100 billion on IT this year.
It wouldn’t be overstating things to say that India’s IT sector grew at an exponential rate, creating millions of jobs that are ever-increasing. It is even believed that with the increase in salary, a candidate’s productivity and job satisfaction will also increase.
But the attrition trend is showing a different picture. According to TeamLease Digital’s prediction, the IT sector experienced a double-digit attrition rate of 23-25% in 2021. This rate is in fact increasing with every coming year; 49% in FY22 and 50-55% in FY23.
The Great Resignation, India
Starting in the USA in 2020, the Great Resignation has also entered the Indian market. IT candidates are seen to be voluntarily resigning from their workplace in mass.
During the lockdown, people found it easier to leave their jobs due to the expanding opportunities for skill development, remote work, and freelancing. They realized how simple it is to start over in a place where they can control their work style and find work-life balance.
Now candidates are more focused on their personal growth and mental peace. They want flexibility, professional development, and employee value proposition and are readily quitting their well-cushioned jobs the mid-way.
People have realized the importance of happiness for their success both at work and at home, and they are willing to tell their employers how they feel.
Reasons for Talent Exodus
The trend of great resignation was first seen when the covid-19 wreaked havoc worldwide. Lack of job opportunities, layoffs, and reduced salaries forced people to look for alternative income opportunities. This led to the realization that it is better to work where people are in charge of their own situation.
A Broader Range of Educational and Skill-Development Opportunities:
Employees can now choose from a variety of e-learning options to help them learn, grow, and adapt to new ways of working. Approximately 14% of the workforce in 2019 was upskilled, rising to 38% by 2020, according to the Udemy Business 2021 Workplace Learning Trends Report.
Employees are becoming more interested in online education platforms. It allows them to learn new skills and get jobs at a better place which is ultimately fueling the attrition trend.
Lack of Quality Management:
Another factor of employee disengagement is the lack of leadership or management. Employees expect their employers to feel empathetic with their unique challenges. Candidates at the workplace are overworked and exhausted and feel that their employers don’t care about their work-life balance.
In pooling the best talents, organizational culture plays a vital role. Employees are concerned about the future if the organization is unable to communicate about the short- and long-term future in clear words.
The shift in Paradigm:
This sudden upheaval in people’s lifestyles awakened their desire to go after their passion. People are looking for work as a key source of personal growth and self-actualization. Now they don’t prefer working for money but for their happiness and satisfaction. As a result, they prefer resigning from a place where they don’t get these two things, rather than suffering.
Strategies to Resolve Talent Exodus
When it comes to channeling the work, trends tell us to look beyond the traditional notions of space and time. The time has come to abandon preconceived notions about work in the same place at the same time. IT employees now want to work stress-free and on their own terms. They are more inclined to work with companies that offer flexible work arrangements.
To retain their best employees, business leaders and organizations have to fundamentally rethink their business operating model. Let’s take a look at some strategies for dealing with the IT industry’s high talent exodus.
Decentralize Your Workforce:
Organizations are required to put people at the center of strategy-making. Before making plans, they first need to evaluate the needs of their team.
Organizations must plan to facilitate what employees actually intend to do – how are employees performing and what do they expect from the organization? Who plans to work from home? Who wants to return to the office? What amount of time do they prefer to devote to office work if they are planning to return?
Meanwhile, organizations must plan their investment in office space to bridge the physical and digital worlds and meet the specific needs of each team and role.
Promote Diversity:
Untapped female talent pools and gender inequalities are preventing women from accessing the opportunities they deserve in many workplaces. In 2021, India dropped 28 places on the WEF Gender Gap Index, placing 140th out of 156 countries. Labor participation dropped from 24.8% to 22.3%, and women held only 14.6% of senior and managerial positions, with only 8.9% of firms employing women as top executives.
Younger talents prefer a workplace that demonstrates a truly inclusive culture. And if the companies will not start proactively addressing gender inequality issues, they are going to lose some really great talents.
By increasing flexibility, opening up more work-from-home positions, eliminating bias from job descriptions, and developing leadership skills and re-skilling programs for female employees, employers can take advantage of diversity and create a minefield of human capital.
Rebuild Social Capital:
In any workplace, expanding networks is crucial and requires more work to establish. Sales, productivity, creativity, and innovation are all integral components of successful business outcomes that depend on social capital. This requires to follow certain steps:
● To build more networks, the organization must reframe team building.
● Encourage groups to consider various viewpoints and share knowledge among themselves.
● In order to foster social capital at work, leaders must reward and encourage managers.
A high-performing team and organization depend on the development of a culture of kindness, humor, and collaboration.
Optimize Learning:
To retain talented individuals in the company, creating a career path is yet another critical point. This makes them feel invested in their workplace.
Every employee eventually seeks out a fresh challenge and an opportunity to go beyond their comfort zones. Acquiring knowledge enables them to maintain a keen interest in and active participation in the work they do within their organizations.
Improve Employee Experience:
In general, the term “employee experience” refers to “feel factors,” or how employees feel both during and after their experience. Enhancing the employee experience can increase employee engagement and support a company’s culture. Regardless of money, employees require empathy, enrichment, and efficient experiences.
To speed up the hiring process, organizations must refocus on workforce planning and build a pipeline of talent. Recognize the importance of employees, increase the visibility of their career paths in the workforce plan, and send a clear message to the workforce that the company values its employees.
Conclusion
For IT organizations, whether they are thriving startups or sizable corporations, the massive exodus of talent has emerged as one of their top concerns. The same is true of India.
Every organization’s strategic plans must include objectives for the advancement of its personnel. A fundamental shift in the employment value proposition results in stronger employer-employee bonds, a sense of ownership that is strong, and work that is driven by purpose.
Organizations need to adapt to the changes like flexible work arrangements where employees prefer remote jobs, freelancing, part-time, etc. In order to do this, you would need to get in touch with a company that will help you hire reliable candidates.
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