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How HCLTech is tackling the talent shortage at entry-level jobs

To deal with the talent shortage, HCLTech is breaking the traditional path by adopting a long-term vision strategy focusing on the entry-level workforce. The TechBee initiative not only offers financial independence to students but also an opportunity to pursue higher education and an assured job after the completion of training.

Highlights

• “What’s being taught in engineering schools is sometimes 10 years behind the current tech landscape,” says S Balasubramanyan, SVP, HCLTech.
• TechBee is an HCLTech’s early career programme that was conceptualised in 2017 to help students kickstart their careers early.
• The programme participants, including those from non-traditional backgrounds, can develop the exact skills in the tech industry and they get employment ahead of their college education.
• Interns who are able to successfully complete the defined milestones get converted to full-time employees. Later, HCLTech’s Tuition Assistance Programme helps them complete graduation of relative choice from the partnered universities.

If a professional degree cannot offer what the industry demands, there’s definitely a systemic issue with the present education modules. In a poll of global tech leaders conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights, 64 per cent of respondents say candidates for their IT and tech jobs lack the necessary skills or experience. Another 56 per cent cite an overall shortage of candidates as a concern.

According to Subbaraman Balasubramanyan , Senior Vice President, HCLTech, talent shortage comes primarily because skills keep changing and the talent that’s required to acquire new skills and deploy to a productive workforce in the shortest possible time is not available in plenty.