Ravikanth Mishra, a civil engineering graduate from an engineering college in Chennai, received many job offers from construction companies, but chose to accept an offer from a merchant bank. He is working there as an analyst. “I make at least 50 per cent more money than my classmates who have taken up jobs in the infrastructure and construction sectors,” claims Mishra.
Like Mishra, many young engineers seek greener pastures than spending time on building sites. “Engineers have been trained to think analytically and so, they make good financial analysts. Most of the merchant bankers you find are engineers,” says Ashwini Parmar, director-Business Development of Patel Engineering. The software industry too plays its part in luring civil engineering graduates.
This is set to hit the infrastructure sector hard, as it looks to grow exponentially — evident from its swelling order books. Analysts say lack of trained manpower can restrict the growth through delayed executions. Some of the government contracts come with caveats, wherein a company might have to pay a penalty in case of delays.
“While engineering and project execution skills will be available, though with significant efforts, the challenge lies in hiring highly skilled supervisory staff and workers. This is an area that we are constantly monitoring, so that none of our projects under execution get adversely impacted,” says Aditya Jain, group executive vice-president-HR of HCC. It plans to hire around 600 engineers this year, for projects under execution or those identified as potential projects. The company is also keeping its hiring target flexible, keeping the forecasted order book in mind.
However, the job is proving difficult, as project managers and experienced engineers are in short supply. “The availability of talent is not great because the scale of infrastructure building that we see now has not been there before. Traditionally, infrastructure building was done by the government. Some of these people have shifted out to work for the private sector,” observes Shiv Agarwal, CEO, ABC Consultants.
The infrastructure sector also requires experienced professionals who can handle project management. “We need people at the middle level who can co-ordinate projects. They should have experience in project execution and should be multi-skilled and have multi-functional knowledge, not just construction, but also on commercial and legal aspects, as they have to co-ordinate with various agencies and projects,” says P Sukumaran, Head of HR and Corporate Strategy, Subhash Projects. The company has plans to hire around 200 people this year.
The power sector is also struggling for want of skilled technical staff, as the country is embracing advanced technology like building super-critical power plants. During the construction phase, the sector is unable to recruit the required number of millwright fitters and high precision welders, even though their remuneration has increased drastically in the last few years.
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“Effluent and sewage treatments projects are highly specialised. It needs people who can handle the equipment and requires specialised knowledge. We try to go for experienced people who can fit into the job, but they are far and few. We see 15-20 per cent shortage every year,” says Sukumaran.
Even though infrastructure companies are trying to hire people, pay scales remain a problem. Human resource consultants opine infrastructure companies are not the best paymasters. “At the senior level, they are good paymasters because people with a lot of experience are very rare. But at the middle level, the pay is not very good,” says Agarwal.
A few infrastructure companies retrenched employees during the slowdown phase. “Last year, many infrastructure projects were shelved and because of it, there were many lay- offs in the sector. Right now, the mood is upbeat, jobs are being created and people are being called back,” says Harveen Singh Bedi, senior vice-president, Naukri.com.
Things have changed this year as attrition, under control last year, has gone up slightly to around 10-15 per cent. The sector is also tapping fresh graduates. “We are hiring from organisations like NICMAR. We are looking at engineering students and even diploma students specialising in civil. We will train these people on the job,” says Sukumaran.
Though hiring has started in a big way and poaching is also prevalent, there is still caution in the air. “It’s still not the way as in the 2006-07 boom time. The attrition was huge that time and salaries went through the roof. Back then, companies hired whenever they found a good candidate. But now, they are hiring based on the projects that they have and the requirement,” observes Bedi.
Mumbai-based infrastructure and real estate company Patel Engineering is planning to hire at least 250 new people this year. The company is also tapping international markets to hire experienced professionals. “With recession in Dubai, expats are coming back. We have hired about 20-25 of such people until now and there are more to go. What is better than trained manpower coming back to motherland?” says Parmar.