IT leaders tackle the high price of talent
Iyer
too
is
banking
on
upskilling
as
he
looks
to
implement
SAP
HANA
by
the
end
of
the
year.
He
is
planning
to
upgrade
the
skillsets
of
resources
within
the
company
instead
of
hiring
expensive
ones
from
outside.
Iyer
too
is
banking
on
upskilling
as
he
looks
to
implement
SAP
HANA
by
the
end
of
the
year.
He
is
planning
to
upgrade
the
skillsets
of
resources
within
the
company
instead
of
hiring
expensive
ones
from
outside.
“Today,
the
list
of
IT
and
non-IT
companies
axing
redundant
roles
is
growing.
In
such
a
situation,
employees
must
keep
their
skills
in
check
to
prove
their
indispensability
within
the
organization.
When
it
comes
to
tech
and
digital
expertise,
the
most
impactful
means
to
raise
productivity
in
tandem
with
the
evolving
technology
is
constant
upskilling,”
says
Alug.
“In
a
digital
world,
the
list
of
certifications
for
IT
courses
is
endless.
However,
there
is
an
increased
demand
for
skill
building
in
certain
areas
such
as
cloud,
data
science,
DevOps,
AI/ML,
and
cybersecurity
to
keep
up
with
the
progressing
technologies.”
Shifting
IT
strategies
to
curb
costs
In
another
initiative,
the
technology
leader
from
the
travel
industry
has
“reengineered
his
enterprise’s
operations.”
“The
travel
industry
has
lots
of
legacy
applications
and
APIs.
We
looked
at
those
applications
that
were
non-revenue
generating
and
shut
them
down.
Overall,
30%
of
the
applications
were
done
away
with.
With
all
these
initiatives,
we
are
today
working
at
60%
less
operating
cost,”
he
says.
The
CIO
from
the
BFSI
vertical
says
his
enterprise
kept
costs
down
by
shutting
30%
of
its
regional
offices
and
persisting
the
company’s
work-from-home
policy.
Meanwhile,
his
outsourcing
partners
have
adopted
an
innovative
approach
to
manage
the
situation.
“Rather
than
laying
off
employees,
their
salaries
have
been
cut
and
they
have
been
given
ESOPs
[Employee
Stock
Ownership
Plans].
As
the
company’s
P&L
moves,
so
would
their
benefits,”
he
says.
Vendors
are
also
offering
innovative
schemes
to
help
CIOs
manage
costs
better.
“Vendors
such
as
Dell
and
HP
have
launched
an
innovative
plan.
Whenever
a
new
employee
joins,
we
had
to
give
them
new
laptops.
Now
these
vendors
take
back
old
laptops
and
return
after
refurbishing
them
by
replacing
their
old
parts
such
as
keys
and
screen.
This
has
extended
the
life
of
a
laptop
from
18
to
20
months
to
64
to
70
months,
helping
us
save
40%
costs
on
a
month-on-month
basis,”
says
the
BFSI
IT
leader.
Navigating
what’s
to
come
Few
IT
leaders
anticipated
a
spike
in
IT
salaries
to
this
extent.
Still,
as
the
business
and
technology
environment
continues
to
remain
unpredictable,
CIOs
must
learn
from
what
is
transpiring
with
talent
costs
today
to
be
better
prepared
to
handle
such
scenarios
in
the
future
—
especially
as
the
CIO’s
strategic
becomes
increasingly
more
important.
“They
must
use
their
expertise
to
anticipate
future
changes
and
work
towards
keeping
the
employees
up
to
speed,”
Alug
advises.
“Times
are
uncertain
with
the
looming
fears
of
recession
and
the
ongoing
geopolitical
scenarios.
In
such
situations,
there’s
no
specific
blueprint
for
CIOs
to
follow
to
predict
upcoming
changes.
That
said,
their
reliance
on
data
and
emerging
technologies
does
take
the
driver’s
seat
to
make
calculative
steps
that
can
stave
off
any
impending
challenges.”
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