CFOs On Changing Dynamics of Jobs In Uncertain Economy

The world is facing a dramatic socioeconomic slowdown that hampered jobs on a huge scale due to the pandemic. Currently, people are contemplating the economic ramifications and how the future of the job landscape is going to shape up. The conventional role of CFOs has been evolved from a sole focus on the transaction, expense control and accountancy taking it to the level of strategic execution on a broader scale for the organization. Leading CFOs across the sectors has put forth their thoughts as to how the recent disruption has brought in a paradigm shift and what the next five years hold for the nation, precisely on the Job landscape. 

Although there has been immense job loss, the war for the right talent is becoming harder because according to experts, fewer people hold the right skill set to handle the future of work which is highly digitised. As agility is the key, people who have adapted to the changes swiftly are expected to do comparatively better in the near future and get better job opportunities. 

As compared to the companies at the global level, hierarchy persists in India. CK Birla Group’s Hariharan emphasises and encourages to hold transparent communication and said, “bold conversations without any sugar-coating is a crucial skill.”

“The demands of a job role have witnessed a tremendous shift if one was a common litigation lawyer or corporate lawyer is required to ramp up their skills in order to compete in the near future of lawyering,” asserts Sudhir Mishra, Founder and Managing Partner, Trust legal. He further adds that Law school and faculties would need to be highly equipped to teach the new type of lawyering we would need in the new world. 

Technology has taken an unprecedented leap and hike in the daily routines of people. “As learning is crucial, I believe the willingness and the mindset to unlearn is of equal importance. As of now, we are hiring data science experts and even upskilling current employees for the same domain as well,” Arnab Roy, CFO, Schneider electric India mentions while speaking at one of the panel discussions at the Best CFO Awards & Summit 2021 recently concluded by BW CFO Wolrd and BW Businessworld in association with ClearTax.

In the duration of the last two years, the healthcare sector has made a good amount of money and the medical devices sector is booming right now. Panellists discussed that will this particular sector is expected to generate more jobs? Adding on these lines, Vineet Jain, CFO, India & APAC Pricing Director India, Medtronic said, “The healthcare sector like other sectors have reset their base at a structural level. Med-tech space is changing significantly.” Jain further cited two major deciding factors; one is the surge in private equity and private investments in the segment and the increasing focus of government on the healthcare spent. “In India, jobs will majorly emerge in services aligned with tech and R&D.” he sums up.

“We need to think more globally. I think we are good with our creative solutions ‘Jugaad’ but we as a nation need to focus on ‘process discipline’, said Madhavan Hariharan, CFO, C K Birla Group. While acknowledging the efforts of the workforce from the last 165 years, he asserts that long term orientation should be prioritised. 

There was a lull in 2020, the sectors have transformed significantly and restructured themselves in order to address the unprecedented demands. Experts are optimistic about the recovery in the last six months it will result in a boom in job generation in areas like med-tech, electronic vehicles, data scientists, software developers and many more. Leaders today are required to be open to adapt to the uninvited changes to succeed in the current rocky and patchy business and economic situation.