“We are not hiring engineers. We are hiring innovators,” reads an advertisement issued by Escorts Ltd. Escorts Agri Machinery is looking for “outstanding professionals” for its Knowledge Management Centre (research and development), to “transform Indian farm mechanisation”.
The advertisement is an indicator that companies are not looking just at engineers, who are available in plenty, but at people who can innovate.
Indian companies have started to focus on creating more intellectual properties (IP) for which innovators are required, Arun Jain, Chairman and CEO, Polaris Financial Technology, recently told
Innovation hub
Multinational IT companies are already using India as an innovation hub. In the last two years, nearly 100 companies such as Panasonic, Airbus Innovation, Facebook and LinkedIn have opened research and development centres in India, says the research firm, Zinnov.
Its CEO, Pari Natarajan, said the Indian technology industry is at an inflection point where innovation must have transformative rather than incremental impact. The technology ecosystem has matured to a point where multinational organisations across verticals are looking to leverage knowledge, skill sets and capabilities available in new technologies and frugal engineering.
With the markets stagnating in developed geographies, companies are focusing their efforts to cater to emerging markets with customised or targeted offerings, with knowledge of local problems. This, coupled with the stark shortage of engineers in the company’s native geographies, is pushing companies to not only set up new R&D centres in India, but also increase the value contribution from the existing ones, Natarajan said.
Says E. Balaji, CEO of the HR firm Randstad India, the country is becoming the R&D and technology hub for the world. “We believe India has reached an inflection point where it is now in a position to increase the pace to move up the pyramid, not only to become a Knowledge Services partner but also to be an R&D and Insights partner.”
Rise in patents
“We have seen an increased number of patents filed by Indian IT majors, indicating investments in innovation. Also, many global energy and process industries are looking at expanding their India footprint and tap the domestic market. This trend is evolving across various sectors,” said Balaji.
This trend is not necessarily resulting in an increased headcount of people with generic skills, but is showing an impact on hiring requirements for highly qualified PhD professionals and research scholars, he said.