How Campus Collaborations Can Aid Recruitment Efforts for GICs in India?

India has become a global hub for MNCs to set up their Global In-house Centers (GICs) because of its rich talent pool of skilled talent available at extremely competitive compensation packages. According to the Decoding Jobs 2023 report, India currently accounts for about 45% of the world’s GICs which collectively generate annual revenues of over USD 33.8 billion.

In the coming years, this number will only increase, with NASSCOM predicting the addition of 500 more GICs  to the existing tally of 1500 by 2026. The industry is expected to see a growing demand for professionals skilled in relatively new technologies such as AI, IoT, and 5G, creating  about 300,000-350,000 new opportunities.

However, one key challenge here is the availability of talent. GICs are hubs of excellence and require professionals skilled in the latest digital skills and technologies.  The talent sought by GICs has a limited pool, and companies have to face fierce competition for hiring such talent.

One way GICs can onboard such talent early on and stay ahead of the curve is by building relationships with colleges and universities through campus collaborations. In this article, we will explore the hiring challenges faced by GICs and how campus collaborations can prove to be a successful recruitment strategy.

GICs in India are grappling with several talent acquisition challenges. As per Taggd’s Decoding Jobs 2023 report, some of the major challenges faced by GICs in India are:

• Competitive Marketplace:  GICs are facing stiff competition from industries such as IT and manufacturing to attract top talent. While offering compensation packages at par with industry standards is important, it is not the only factor important for attracting and retaining the best talent. GICs must emphasize building an employee-centric culture, and communicating it far and wide to ensure it grabs the attention of top talent.
• Building a Strong Employer Brand: As the job market becomes more dynamic, GICs need to find innovative ways to distinctly showcase their organization’s goals, vision, and mission to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
• Talent Management: Managing talent is a complex process, and GICs must find ways to identify top talent, retain them, and provide them with opportunities for growth and development. However, GICs are struggling to develop and implement effective talent management strategies, leading to high attrition of 18% in 2022.

Here is how campus collaboration can enable GICs to overcome the above challenges:

Campus collaborations provide GICs with access to a large pool of young, enthusiastic, and skilled graduates from different academic institutions who are trained in the latest technology disciplines. Campus hires have an open mind, and can be trained and nurtured to meet the specific requirements of the GIC.

A campus recruitment strategy allows GICs to build a positive brand image among students. Employees want the companies to go the extra mile beyond just providing a competitive salary, and GICs with strong culture advantages and employee welfare programs can capitalize on such recruitment opportunities to widely communicate such employment benefits.

GICs with strong campus recruitment strategies can engage with students from their early years, and introduce them to the benefits of their workplace culture in a more detailed manner by organizing industrial visits, boot camps, employee interactions, and internships.

Satisfied students and faculty members can even become brand ambassadors for the GIC and promote job opportunities for future cohorts as well. This can help GICs to attract and retain top talent, creating a sustainable competitive advantage.

Campus collaborations can be a cost-effective way of recruiting talent compared to other recruitment channels. That’s because this hiring strategy can create a long-term talent pipeline that allows GICs to continuously recruit from the same universities over time. By building relationships with academic institutions, GICs can reduce their recruitment costs and improve their return on investment (ROI) in the long run.

By recruiting from different universities, GICs can access talent from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. This can help GICs to build a more innovative and creative workforce, which is essential in today’s competitive business environment.

Multinational corporations from countries like North America, Japan, Europe, New Zealand, and many more are taking active steps to leverage the skilled talent available in India. To ensure successful hiring in such a competitive space, GICs need to invest in building strong relationships with academic institutions and create an effective campus recruitment strategy to benefit from a large pool of skilled talent who can be easily trained to the company’s way of working.

If you want to learn more about the latest trends in the GIC job market and assess how they can impact your organization’s recruitment strategy, we encourage you to read our Decoding Jobs 2023 report.

Click here to download the Decoding Jobs Sectoral Reports 2023 now!