9 in 10 tech CEOs expect double-digit hiring growth in 2022: NASSCOM study

Around 90 per cent of tech CEOs are predicting a double-digit growth in hiring for 2022, similar to or slightly higher than 2021 levels as talent shortage has emerged as the top challenge for the year, according to a NASSCOM Tech CEO Survey 2022 report released on Friday. 

Of these, 80 per cent said they plan to hire similar to last year and 10 per cent said they plan to hire higher than last year. The survey responses were gathered from 130 CEOs belonging to large, medium and small size IT firms, GCCs and start-ups. A majority were Indian companies, followed by GCCs and MNCs. 

The survey findings come amid a raging talent war and record attrition, especially in the tech and digital fields.  

As many as 24 per cent of those surveyed said talent shortage was their biggest challenge, while maintaining operational efficiencies, global competition and increasing or changing customer preferences were listed as a top challenge only by 20, 16 and 14 per cent, respectively. 

Nearly two-thirds of the CEOs expect digital talent to constitute up to 50 per cent of new hires. The survey also revealed that campus hiring and inclusion of non-engineering talent is likely to be ramped up in 2022 to fill the demand-supply gap.  

Further, the emerging work model of gig workers, which comprises up to 10 per cent of the total employees, is expected to grow further, according to the study. 

Amid the great resignation and increasing digital focus, employee engagement to retain critical top talent has become the top strategic priority for 2022. Last year’s top priority of new product development and innovation has slipped to the fourth position this year. 

Besides, 57 per cent of the CEOs also said HR would be a primary use case for tech spends in 2022. It’s far off from 60 per cent + companies looking to direct tech investments towards customer service, supply chain digitisation and sales and marketing. 

On the back of this talent crunch, HR imperatives are shifting to a ‘people-first employee-centric’ approach, the tenets of which include employee engagement and organisational culture, ensuring employee health and safety, upskilling and reskilling of employees, improving diversity and inclusion metrics, and location-agnostic performance or productivity metrics.  

Yet, around 60 per cent CEOs expect at least half of the workforce to return to office in 2022, the study found.

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