Opportunities galore in India job market: Korn Ferry Hay Group

Confident about continuing growth opportunities for the Indian job market, US-based consultancy giant Korn Ferry Hay Group feels the outsourcing story is no more about cheap labour and the key drivers going forward will be value-addition and technology.
"There would continue to be opportunities for Indian job market for sure. But substitution of certain jobs by technology would mean that the role of labour and labour arbitrage is not that important.
"So I think the technology solutions to issues has an impact. I think technology is going to play a role in what those opportunities is going to be in future," Korn Ferry Hay Group CEO Stephen D Kaye told PTI in an interview here.

Kaye, who heads one of the world's largest management consultancies and was on a visit to India, said outsourcing was a response to a particular situation where companies were looking for cheap labour but the situation is now changing with the advent of technology and artificial intelligence.
Many global leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner in the presidential race, have voiced concerns about outsourcing in their bid to save local jobs. This has led to fears about loss of business for back-office service providers from India.
Experts believe advances in the field of automation and robotics is expected to radically change the job market and to survive this period, employees are required to re-skill to remain relevant in the job market.

"With the increasing levels of sophistication and artificial intelligence, I don't think it is cheaper labour that is going to be the driver," Kaye said.

Seeking to allay concerns that the Indian job market would take a hit, Kaye said technology is going to play a role and "the challenge is going to be how do companies and how do individuals in companies add value and how do we manage the situation where jobs can be replaced by technology".
"That would be challenge across the world. But I think it means that the outsourcing of certain routine tasks for labour arbitrage may not be always attractive as we go forward. So I think it creates a need for companies to look at how they add value now and in future," he added.

Korn Ferry Hay Group, whose clients include governments, public sector companies, family-owned enterprises as well as listed private sector companies from across the world, including many top Fortune-500 firms, is present across 56 countries and has a significant presence in India.
Talking about the Indian market, Kaye said he is excited about the opportunities that exist in the country, including for his group, which has nearly 7,000 consultants working with it across the world.
"We are also excited about the tremendous talent that exists within India that we are able to deploy for clients not only in India but also globally," he added.

Hay Group merged with Korn Ferry late last year to form a combined behemoth.