The entire world is your oyster

If you are finishing your graduation or have graduated and put in anywhere between 1 to 3 years, here's some food for thought. What are your chances of landing a perfect MNC job? According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, by 2008 you may be one of the 40 million suitable candidates from 28 low-wage countries chasing an estimated 2.2 million jobs coming out of high-wage countries.If the odds look impossible, do not despair. Your Indian origins offer you a couple of natural advantages.
A McKinsey report, 'The Emerging Global Labour Market', gives succinct information on trends in jobs creation, demand and supply and wages and competitiveness. In its July 14 edition, ToI brought to you the first glimpses of this report and gave a you a macro picture. Now it's time for the fine print which throws up some surprising elements.
Competitiveness: It's time to do a personal SWOT analysis and increase your suitability for the global market. In the rapidly globalising environment, the study hints, the key lies in adapting to multinational work culture and communication skills. Team work and flexible work timing are said to be the primary issues pulling Indian professionals behind others. Toyota's experience in India is that people are extremely talented but are not good team workers.
On the brighter side, Indian professionals are already rated high on being accessible. Their ability to move across locations domestically and their concentration near important hubs with an air link is said to be very high (83per cent as compared to China's 51per cent and Russia's 44per cent ) ...
...Philips Software CEO Bob Hoekstra worships Indian talent for this very trait, but warns against putting the cart before the horse. "A three-year-old engineer wants to become a 15-year-old manager. How can it be," is his favourite quip.
Indians' ability to move base and work in new environs can be best seen in technology hubs such as Bangalore and Pune. Both cities draw thousands of people who come in search of jobs.
They have become aspirational destinations. The McKinsey study, in fact, reiterates the role of hubs but warns against high attrition rate and increasing wages which may end up in driving companies to other destinations.
The report says, at the current rate of growth, Prague and Hyderabad may see the availability of suitable talent pool constrained as early as 2006 and 2008 respectively. As a professional this is a vital point to be noted. Be ready to move across the border, perhaps even to other low-wage countries.
India is estimated to supply 30per cent of the total supply to the talent pool globally. Going forward, over the next couple of years, competition from other countries, especially from Czech republic, Poland and Russia are said to rise and pose a threat.
Collectively, the suitable talent pool from Czech Republic, Poland and Russia is estimated to be as big as India's. The trouble is, candidates in these three European countries are said to be 50per cent more suitable in terms of cultural fit as compared to India (with 25per cent suitability). The challenge for young professionals thus lies in bridging this gap.
External forces: Even as you gear up to take on the world, there are several forces working both against and in your favour. The biggest block is the demandsupply. McKinsey's study across 8 sample sectors shows that by 2008, supply of suitable talent pool will far outstrip the demand.Especially, in sectors such as support functions, analysts and finance and accounting, the demand is expected to be only 2, 3 and 5per cent of the supply respectively...
...The only sector with some parity is the engineering services where demand is expected to be 63per cent of the supply.
On the brighter side, growth in wages (hourly labour cost) especially in low wage countries is set on a good trajectory. McKinsey poses a rider here: if companies go by only low cost criteria then India, China and Philippines
are the best suitable locations. The wages here are expected to grow to almost 30per cent of the prevailing wages in the US.
The sobering note is, if the companies take rational decisions based on their own unique cost criteria then the jobs are dispersed across the 28-low wage countries and wages everywhere pan out. Where to belong: The key to be successful is to decide on which side of the labour divide you would want to be. The toss up will be between low-cost market and unique-cost market.
If companies stick to low cost criteria to send jobs, India can be a perfect place. If companies decide on unique cost criteria then you may want to position yourself as a global worker, ready to move any place and get cracking.
Picking up the right sector is also crucial. For instance you may want to position yourself in the retail sector. Going by the data, only about 3per cent of the jobs in retail sector can be transferred to low wage countries as compared to 52per cent in engineering and 31per cent in finance and accounting.
But the absolute numbers employed in retail is far larger than in other sectors. Having said that, finance and accounting sector is hotting up. McKinsey says that by 2008, the supply from low-wage countries in this sector will be comparable to the supply from high-wage countries.
Which actually means, on a cost basis you can land the job more easily than a high wage location professional. Engineering services appears to be the most promising in terms of parity in demand and supply. There will be less jostling for head space compared to others.
As we move into the truly globalised realm the game is controlled by a new set of rules. It is up to us to adapt them and run with the ball.