We are a country that’s heavily dependent on manual labour across all sectors. Whether it’s construction workers, housekeeping staff, drivers or security guards, people employed in these roles are responsible at the root level for building these industries. While the technology is taking over and transforming the face of many industries, it is yet to alter the course of recruitment at their ground level. Recruitment in blue-collar jobs in India can be a bit chaotic, given the archaic manual process for a distributed workforce. There’s a lot that needs to be addressed – geographic barriers, demand aggregation, topical training and skilling – which is currently unorganised. But the strategic use of data, analytics and technology can help make a dent in this space.
Technology can trace the huge untapped potential in this segment
The worlds of demand and supply are completely disjoint when it comes to recruiting blue-collar workforce. On one hand, rural areas are brimming with potential waiting to be utilised. On the other, industries in the urban metros often struggle to fill vacancies in roles like delivery and driver partners, and also to retain them. Inadequate skilling, different geographical location, lack of data, lack of engagement – a lot of factors are responsible for this disconnect.
In retrospect, data and analytics can help study the trends and map the demand to supply. Based on the trends, future demand projections can be charted out and candidates can be prepared accordingly in those particular job skills for those particular job roles. For instance, if you know in advance that Assam produces the largest number of security guards or housekeeping staff, it will be easier for the employers to trace them. Similarly, if the candidates or training partners know which city employs the maximum number of security guards, placement for them becomes much easier.
Technology helps iron out the friction in recruitment process
While the world moved on to digital channels long time ago, hiring in this segment still follows the manual process. This is not only time-consuming but financially unviable too. It consumes a lot of resource, effort and time on the company trying to make sense of chaotic data across distributed workforce, especially when it’s not their core area.
What makes sense, instead, is to outsource the process to enterprises who have the right technology and resources to bring efficiency to the process at a cost-effective rate. The penetration of technology helps fill the gaps of the broken system and make the entire process frictionless. It helps avoid the loss of time and productivity on the part of the employer.
Updating skills digitally helps fill the gaps in physical training
In a world that’s constantly changing, it is important to keep reskilling and upskilling to survive and remain employable. The lack of awareness and resources in the semi-formal segment often keeps them from learning new skills or even learning the right skills for the jobs. This not only brings inefficiency to the process but also leads to high attrition that takes the employer back to square one.
Perhaps it’s time to take a step back and rethink about the physical classroom training. Is it enough to connect them to the right jobs? Does it prepare them to handle their job roles effectively in a rapidly-changing environment of high customer expectation? Learning is no longer confined to classrooms anywhere. Maybe training them through a digital platform – for instance, learning apps – will help them learn constantly and on-the-go keeping pace with changing demands. This not only improves their efficiency but also cuts down a major reason for their frequent job change.
It consumes a lot of resource, effort and time on the company trying to make sense of chaotic data across distributed workforce, especially when it’s not their core area. What makes sense, instead, is to outsource the process to enterprises who have the right technology and resources to bring efficiency to the process at a cost-effective rate
Technology boosts the reach of the employers
Getting across to the heavily distributed workforce in a country like ours can be challenge. The labour force is scattered across the country, but majority of jobs are confined to tier-1 cities. This essentially means that the workforce from many different regions migrates to the metros to get employed. But the disconnect between the two makes the entire process bumpy.
The white-collar workforce also migrates to bigger cities in search of jobs. But the abundance of digital channels makes it much smoother for both the employees and employers to connect. A similar approach in the semi-formal segment can help cross over the geographical barriers and even make post-placement compliances much easier.
Guest author: Saurabh Tandon, COO and Co-founder, BetterPlace saurabh.tandon@betterplace.co.in
