Infosys CEO explains why future digital workplaces will require people with humanities background

 IT industry should revamp its talent management strategy to meet the growing demand for digital skills, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said on Wednesday.

While the traditional way of staffing IT firms has included entry-level recruitment, internal pool of hires and lateral hiring, companies must look at lateral hiring of people with ‘adjacent’ skills to reskill and redeploy them in the new skillset, Parekh said.

The tech executive was speaking on the topic of “Foundation for the Future Workforce” at CII Connect 2020, a flagship ICT conference organized by CII Tamil Nadu and the TN state government.

For future digital workplaces, companies also should look beyond STEM (science technology mathematics) talent and consider people from the economics, humanities and liberal arts background.

“A lot of work that goes on in tech companies involves designing the experience of the users for which we need to bring in those with humanities backgrounds,” he said, noting that Infosys has already diversified its talent strategy looking beyond STEM segment.

Enterprises are being reshaped by different market forces and disruptions including geopolitical challenges, new ways of working, new-age competitors, digital native customers, and new delivery models.

The industry should focus on creating a skilling ecosystem to stay relevant, he said. He recommended that such an ecosystem requires the involvement of the government, academia and industry bodies, and must incorporate various skills such as technical, behavioural skills, and business skills.