AI shift forces skills rethink at India tech hubs, Kimberly-Clark executive says

By Savyata Mishra and Praveen Paramasivam

BENGALURU, May 20 (Reuters) - AI is reshaping hiring and occupation roles astatine India's booming offshore centres, with companies ‌placing little accent connected coding and much connected domain and merchandise skills, ‌a elder Kimberly-Clark enforcement said.

The U.S.-based user goods shaper is progressively seeking workers who tin use ​technology to concern problems alternatively than constitute code, arsenic automation tools statesman to grip regular programming tasks, Deena Dayalan, the planetary caput of integer operations and unreality transformation, told the Reuters acme successful Bengaluru.

Coding unsocial volition not beryllium enough, Dayalan said, adding ‌that employees present request domain ⁠expertise successful areas specified arsenic proviso chains oregon retail alongside basal AI literacy.

"Most of the coding jobs are fixed to third-party (providers). ⁠We request merchandise engineers who tin enactment with them and effort to use exertion to get a amended solution," said Dayalan, who is besides Kimberly-Clark's India tract leader.

The displacement ​comes ​as planetary capableness centres (GCCs) successful India determination ​up the worth concatenation from back-office ‌support to engineering, information and merchandise roles, creating request for much specialised endowment adjacent arsenic immoderate entry-level positions look pressure.

Dayalan said companies are focusing connected hiring experienced workers, typically with much than 4 years' experience, portion entry-level roles could shrink arsenic AI tools automate basal tasks.

At the aforesaid time, firms are retraining existing employees, ‌with Kimberly-Clark rolling retired company-wide AI grooming ​initiatives to physique skills crossed its workforce.

The changes ​are besides altering hiring patterns, with ​firms prioritising "must-have" skills and learning capableness implicit rigid occupation descriptions, ‌he said.

India produces astir 1.5 cardinal engineering ​graduates each year, ​but Dayalan said person manufacture collaboration with universities volition beryllium cardinal to guarantee graduates are equipped with some domain and method skills for emerging roles.

"Little ​bit of domain cognition ‌is a must. Raw technologist is not going to help, particularly for ​GCCs," helium said.

(Reporting by Savyata Mishra and Praveen Paramasivam successful Bengaluru; ​Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)