Engineering the talent pipeline

As infrastructure projects gather momentum, companies find that the lack of technically qualified personnel could pose hurdles to their plans.

The infrastructure boom in the country has triggered a massive demand for technically qualified people. Civil engineers once again have many suitors, as do mechanical and electrical engineers.

The reality however is that while engineering degrees facilitate access to a prospective employer's office for an interview, they do not translate into job offers.

Complains Govind Sachdev, chief executive officer of Lanco Infratech Limited, which employs 80 engineers: "I am able to shortlist only 30 out of 3,000 applications that I get. The remaining people have first class degrees but do not seem to be fit for the industry."

Adds B. Ramaswamy, Head-Human Capital of Feedback Ventures, an infrastructure project management company: "Finding engineers itself is tough, leave alone those of good quality."

Sachdev says the engineers being churned out by India's umpteen engineering colleges lack industry exposure. The demand for quality engineers therefore far exceeds their supply.

It is estimated that the infrastructure industry employs over two lakh professionals and will be in need of over a lakh more in a year's time.

Ashok Reddy, director (resources) of IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects Limited, says that many entry-level professionals are not mentally prepared to work in this industry.

"An engineer has to live a nomadic life. He has to work on sites which may be at remote locations. Many, therefore, tend to give up this profession for a desk job at a multinational information technology company," he rues.

Sachdev says the industry is facing an average attrition rate of 25 per cent now, compared to five per cent about five years ago.

Adds Ramaswamy: "Most companies now have contracted employees on infrastructure projects, while earlier they used to be departmental employees of the company itself. Now, such staff disperse the moment the project is over."

With the market unable to meet industry demand, companies have resorted to poaching. Mid-level and senior-level professionals are in massive demand and the salaries being offered by competing companies to lure them away are reported to be more than double their existing compensation levels.

An entry-level engineer today gets around Rs 12,000 per month, compared to Rs 5,000 five years back. However, once he gains sufficient experience, he is in a position to command his price.

"This supply crunch has led to a lot of pay-scale imbalances. Today if I have to recruit a competent person from another company I have to pay him much more than what I pay a current employee," Sachdev says.

Reddy adds that the definition of "long years of service" has changed over time. "While earlier, 20-25 years of experience would be considered long, today 15 years of service with one company is considered fairly long," he says.

All this has led to a reduction in the age profile of people in the industry as well. The average age of an employee in the infrastructure industry is estimated to be 25 today, as compared to 35 about five years back.

The increase in adoption of technology has also led to a demand for people with IT skills. "It is imperative for an engineer to be tech-savvy today. Online project monitoring, management of information systems have become essential," Reddy says.

Incidentally, this has led to a need for design engineers as well and while women tend to be a minority in this industry (about three per cent), they have made their way into the design engineering segment.

The GMR group, which is setting up a greenfield airport at Hyderabad, is however looking for people with other skill-sets as well.

While engineers continue to be the core resources of the company, it is also looking for people with retail, hospitality and property development experience. The reason"" it expects a significant portion of its revenues from non-aeronautical segments like retail, hotel and the like at the airport.

"We have employed about 400 people for the airport development project and will require another 1,000-odd by 2008," says a spokesman for the GMR group. Business development, he adds, once revolved around ports, "but we are gradually moving towards the aerotropolis way. This will definitely lead to a spiralling demand for multi-skilled people."

Indeed, the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, which runs its own educational institutions, plans to start a post-graduate programme in infrastructure development shortly.