 "IT sector, employees, jobs, classes")
Edtech startup Scaler, in its 2023 hiring survey, stated that amid layoffs and a hiring freeze, Indian tech companies are relying on upskilling existing employees to bridge their talent gaps.
The survey included over 100 startups, product multinationals, IT services and global capability centres (GCC) in the country.
The survey reported that nearly two-thirds of the respondents were paying for their employees' upskilling programmes.
Below are the key findings of Scaler's hiring survey 2023
-61.6 per cent are paying for their employee upskilling programme.
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-72.02 per cent of the respondents said that data science/algorithm is the most important skill.
-91.02 per cent of the respondents said they are looking for candidates with a problem-solving mindset.
-38.3 per cent of the respondents believe that the shortage of skills is the most formidable challenge in the tech sector.
-31.06 per cent of the respondents said that the role of back-end engineers is challenging to fill.
-76.02 per cent of the respondents said they are encouraging hybrid work models in their respective organisations.
-71.9 per cent of the respondents said that employee referrals are the best source of new hires.
According to the survey, nine out of 10 respondents believe that in the larger scheme of things, employees' ability to solve problems trumps education. However, the latter is used as a basic filter to shortlist candidates when hiring.
Abhimanyu Saxena, co-founder of Scaler and InterviewBit, said, "Shortage of the right skills for the right job is definitely a growing concern for our tech sector... But we have every reason to be optimistic about the future, given that employers are looking at upskilling or quiet hiring as the primary means to bridge their internal skills gaps. Most of them are willing to pick the tab for the same. Further, given the ever-changing demand for the type of skills in the sector, it is also imperative to build an edtech sector beyond traditional institutions like engineering colleges because the upskilling needs can be largely met only by the former."
He added that with employees' referrals reigning as the most preferred source for new talents, the prospects for building an industry community look both promising and bright.
Scaler's 2023 hiring survey showed that less than 16 per cent of the respondents said there is a complete hiring freeze, while 38 per cent said that only replacement hiring is on, especially in startups followed by product multinationals.
Survey methodology
The in-house survey included over 100 partner companies across sizes and sectors, including IT services and staffing, product companies, and startups, to gain insights into the current hiring trends across the tech landscape.
The findings are based on the interactions with chief human resources officers (CHROs), talent acquisition heads and chief experience officers (CXO) from organisations such as Walmart, Adobe, Zomato, Infosys, InMobi, Samsung, Razorpay, Xpressbees, among others.
