Synopsis: Kotak Mahindra Bank, Vedanta, Larsen & Toubro, the Tata Group and the Adani Group are among large Indian conglomerates and companies that are bullish on expat talent, they said. There is also increased interest among these executives to work in India, given the opportunity for growth and experience this country offers, they said.
Indian companies are increasingly hiring foreign executives and Indians with global experience to build capability in new growth areas, facilitate digital transformation, lead international expansion and make up for local talent shortages.
According to search and recruitment firms and executives from sectors as diverse as oil and gas to banking and technology, organisations are keen to run global searches while hiring, in line with their global ambitions and capability to pay on par with international standards.
Large Indian conglomerates and companies including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Vedanta, Larsen & Toubro, the Tata Group and the Adani Group are among those bullish on expat talent, they said. There is also increased interest among these executives to work in India, given the opportunity for growth this country offers, they said.
“Global executives are keen to have India on their resume,” said Ashwin Saboo, senior client partner at executive search firm Korn Ferry. “With regards to expats of Indian nationality, the openness to re-look at India is stronger than ever.”
Niche skills
In the first week of 2024, Adani Ports appointed Ashwani Gupta, former global chief operating officer of Nissan Motors, as its chief executive. On January 1, Ashok Vaswani, previously president of US-Israeli financial technology firm Pagaya, took charge as managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank. The private sector bank also brought in Anupam Kaura from Crisil, London, to spearhead its organisational transformation as chief human resources officer.
“Global talent, including Indians, are viewing the India growth story as an opportunity to add to their experience,” a Kotak spokesperson told ET. “We have made key global hires for specific focused skills like tech, customer experience, data privacy and general management, a ghar vapsi of some incredible Indian talent back home. As the financial landscape undergoes rapid change … if the role requires differentiated skills or exposure, we will reach out to global talent with relevant experience.”
Diversified miner Vedanta has onboarded 30 expats in the past year across exploration, mining, drilling, reservoir & geoscience and says it continues to hire foreigners and returning Indians as businesses increase production and get into more value-added and green products.
“Expats bring in specialised /niche skillsets from global organisations that would be a good value addition,” said Vedanta chief HR officer Madhu Srivastava.
L&T chief HR officer C Jayakumar said expatriate requirements were considered when a particular skill or level of expertise was not readily available within the local talent pool.
WalkWater Talent Advisors recently closed a search for a candidate to be appointed as the CEO of a furniture company. The process involved mapping talent in the US, Europe and Southeast Asia.
There is a shortage of skilled leadership talent in electronics manufacturing, aviation, aerospace and defence, semiconductors, furniture, solar panel manufacturing and green hydrogen production, compelling companies to look at experts from across the world, said Rahul Shah, cofounder, WalkWater Talent Advisors.
“Given the emergence of India as one of the fast-growing economies, we are finding that it is becoming easier to attract expatriate talent to our country,” said Shah.
Competitive salaries
R Suresh, managing director of Insist Consulting, said the executive search firm looks for talent beyond India in almost 80% of the searches, although Indian-origin expats are the main targets.
Salaries are competitive, at par with international salaries. A CEO for a Rs 1,000 crore tech-oriented business will easily command $500,000, plus variable pay, allowances for housing, transport and leave travel, and medical insurance, Suresh said. Also, an end of contract bonus is now almost a given and tends to be attractive, he added.
With some India level indexation, companies are able to get the packages closer to 80 percentile of global standards. However, for such hires, wealth creation opportunities in terms of milestone-linked bonuses or stock appreciation plans are extended in addition, said Korn Ferry’s Saboo.
Anshul Lodha, managing director at executive search firm Page Group said he had seen a 50% increase in expat hiring in the electric vehicle and renewable energy spaces, as well as in semiconductor where India makes a big manufacturing push.
“With large Indian conglomerates looking to foray into these spaces, the demand for talent outweighs the supply. We look at markets like the US and Europe, as well as Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore,” said Lodha.
Source: The Economic Times