Tech firms to ramp up talent hunt from Tier-II, III cities

Several technology companies are seeking to step up hiring from Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India in 2024 to tap into a vast talent pool of skilled professionals churned out by educational institutions and training centres in these regions.

Tier-II and Tier-III cities such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Mohali, Vadodara, Chandigarh, and Indore contribute around 12-15 per cent of the country’s tech talent, hinting towards the strong talent availability in these regions, according to Randstad  India, a talent management firm.

“These cities house an untapped talent pool, supported by educational institutions and training centres that produce skilled professionals.

"Hence organisations can leverage the good-quality talent pool in these regions while enjoying some cost advantages as well,” said Rohit Kishore, global delivery and talent officer, Randstad Digital.

SaaS unicorn Zoho plans to hire over 1,000 employees across various roles, departments, and products in 2024, focusing on hiring from rural regions.

“We will be recruiting from Tier-II, III towns and villages as we  have done in the past.

"As per our global expansion strategy ‘Transnational Localism’, we have adopted a hub-and-spoke work model.

"We have five hub offices and 30 spoke offices in villages and Tier - II, III towns.

"Close to 2,000 employees work across these offices, of which about 50 per cent have been hired locally,” said Praval Singh, vice president, Zoho.

“Opening offices across smaller cities and rural areas takes us closer to a vast talent pool that is still untapped and awaiting an opportunity.

"When we hire locally, we train the recruits in-house to equip them with industry-specific skill sets,” Singh added.

Without sharing specific numbers, IBM India said it has been following an “aggressive” talent growth strategy for over three years and plans to continue the trajectory in 2024.

This includes the expansion of its various business units to emerging cities beyond the metros.

“We will be extending opportunities to not just skilled professionals in those locations but also tap into the talent pool from leading local academic institutions.

"We are looking to our new hires to further help accelerate IBM’s AI and hybrid cloud strategy.

"As a policy we don’t share our hiring numbers. IBM India is a microcosm of the IBM Corporation and almost every major business unit of our organisation has a footprint here,” said Thirukkumaran (Thiru) Nagarajan, vice president and head of HR, IBM India & South Asia.

Kyndryl, the managed services spin-off of IBM, is also embracing a flexible work model as the pandemic has redefined work.

“Location is no longer a barrier to talent.

"We can now hire exceptional individuals from anywhere in India, regardless of their city, and provide them with equal opportunities and career growth.

"Tier- II and Tier-III cities are home to excellent universities and colleges churning out skilled graduates in STEM fields.

"We are actively collaborating with these institutions to bridge the gap between academia and industry, ensuring our talent pipeline stays robust,” said Rajita Singh, chief people officer, Kyndryl India.

Mid-sized IT services firm Happiest Minds Technologies said it has a robust hiring plan for 2023, especially in critical digital skills.

“Technical experience range of 4-14 years has higher absorption.

"Experts with deep domain knowledge and subject matter expertise see consistent demand.

"This segment is expected to last through next year,” said Rajesh Chandran Sogasu, head of Talent Acquisition and L&D, Happiest Minds.

Happiest Minds has a clear roadmap to hire from locations in India outside Bengaluru.

“These include Noida, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Madurai, and Coimbatore.

"These locations provide the much-needed option for quality talent to stay close to families and also meet organisation requirements of working from an office.

"It also helps them to save significant time by reducing travel and the cost of living.

"By providing a stable career without compromising on location benefits, members of the organisation find it a winning option to select us,” added Sogasu.