In addition to telecos and technology firms, enterprises have joined the race to hire 5G talent as more use cases are ready to deploy. So, competition could mean higher pay packages and recruitment costs for companies, they added.
“The talent deficit is poised at about 30% for the telecom sector in the country. The current shortage of employees in the 5G domain is estimated to be close to 150, 000,” said Sachin Alug, chief executive at staffing firm NLB Services.
Alug added that to truly capture the potential of 5G from an enterprise and consumer point of view, India could see demand for as many as 22 million skilled workers across sectors and profiles over the next three years.
India is witnessing 5G rollout at a frenetic pace, with 140,000 5G base stations erected in more than 570 districts within a period of six months, said the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). This means telecom companies will need people that can design, develop, and manage 5G networks. That should boost demand for network architects, engineers, and technicians with relevant skill-sets.
“Job portals have noted an increase of 16% in postings for telecom related roles. In the past year, there has been a 15-20% rise in demand for skilled workforce in telecom and allied sectors, and it is expected to grow to 25-30% in 2023 compared to 20% in 2022,” said Lt. Gen. (Retd) SP Kochhar, director general, COAI.
Hot SkillsHe added that 5G will trigger the use of ICT (information and communication technology), demanding skill development and specialization in functional aspects in sectors as diverse as education, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, mining, automobile, and entertainment.
“A critical aspect of this (5G) journey is skilled manpower, we are actively hiring new talent and upskilling existing workforce to ensure that we have the largest pool of 5G talent in India,” said Amrita Padda, chief people officer, Bharti Airtel.
Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio did not respond to queries sent by ET at press time.
For the non-telecom firms, the need will be in areas like application development using high speed and low latency provided by 5G, resulting in job opportunities for software developers, data analysts, and experts in artificial intelligence.
“There aren’t that many people out there with 5G expertise yet. This means there’s going to be a big competition for these skilled professionals, which could lead to higher wages and more expensive recruitment costs,” said Kartik Narayan, chief executive – staffing, TeamLease Services.
These profiles are poised to get slightly better increments this cycle, staffing experts had told ET, especially for technical profiles as a retention strategy by companies, including telcos.
To be sure, Alug said hirings may not be as aggressive as they were a couple of years ago if the macroeconomy remains circumspect.
“With the economic upheavals and businesses exhibiting caution in hiring, we expect there to be a slump in the hiring spree that we saw a couple of years ago,” he said.
