Offers in the time of talent crunch

Talent crunch was mentioned prominently across sessions at a recent banking and financial services summit organised by this newspaper in Mumbai.

- NIVEDITA MOOKERJI

In fact, experts and top executives raised it as one of the biggest concerns facing the industry at this point. Besides the talent crunch crisis, the future of work powered by artificial intelligence (AI) resonated throughout.

While these are early days for AI and its full impact on employment and the job market is yet to be determined, the talent crunch is real and immediate, cutting across sectors, and more so in some industries. It has hit companies so badly that every resignation, at whatever level, feels more worrisome than it actually is. That, in turn, has strengthened the position of the employee who's looking out for a better opportunity, whether in another organisation or perhaps in a completely different industry.

And for some, it's a chance to step up and get a higher pay rise within the same organisation. When an employee comes with the line "I have an offer," with sort of a winner's swag, it is meant to immediately start a matching contest for compensation, job profile and flexibility to help work-life balance! In a job market, so devoid of talent, this contest plays out frequently across organisations to retain an employee, even when they may not be the best fit for the role, as recent conversations with people from varied backgrounds reveal. There's a reason for this.