Are Indian professionals ready to embrace artificial intelligence (AI)? A PwC survey last year did reveal that professionals in India were expecting the impact of AI to be positive with 51 per cent believing that it would improve their productivity and 47 per cent believing that it would help them learn new and important skills. About 37 per cent believed that it would create new employment opportunities.
A year later, in terms of awareness, Indian employees are found to be well aware of the skills that will be needed in the future, with a good 62 per cent admitting that the skills required for their jobs will undergo significant change over the next five years. About 69 per cent know very well how these requirements will alter. That means, more Indian professionals are aware in this regard as compared to their global counterparts (43 per cent). However, what is surprising is that one third of Indians seem to lack the confidence in their own ability to master newer skills, while globally, 18 per cent professionals share the same underconfidence.
The survey by PwC, called Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2023, covered 2,502 participants in India with 88% of them working fulltime jobs. Of these, 80 per cent were men and 20 per cent were women. About 54 per cent of the respondents were millennials, 21 per cent Gen X, 19 per cent Gen Z and six per cent were boomers.
While last year, the survey found that employees gave a lot of importance to organisational trust, innovation and hybrid work, this year their expectations seem to have changed. While a year ago, monetary rewards, meaningfulness of work and sense of fulfillment were the most important takes for them from the workplace, this year they wish for more empowerment. Their expectations from their work environment have evolved over the last 12 months. Now, they want their jobs/ employers to offer them equal opportunities to learn, grow and remain relevant and competitive, given the pace at which the world is changing.
This year, the report reveals that 42 per cent of employees in India are likely to change jobs in the next 12 months, as compared to 26 per cent of their global respondents. In India, a significant 69 per cent employees are likely to seek a pay hike, while globally, only 42 per cent will do so. A whopping 70 per cent in India will demand promotions, while globally, only 35 per cent will.
About 50 per cent of employees are unsure how viable their organisations will be a decade from now. Interestingly, 41 per cent of CEOs in India too question the viability of their organisations for more than 10 years!
The survey covered respondents belonging to seven industries, namely energy; utilities and resources; financial services; government or public-sector units;, healthcare; retail and consumer; technology; media and telecom;and industrial manufacturing (IM).