Country’s finance leaders are most optimistic about growth in employment compared to any other country as 78 per cent of them surveyed from India expect to see strong growth in employment opportunities as compared to 50 per cent of the senior finance professionals from China and 61 per cent from the US, who responded. As per the eighth annual Global Business and Spending Monitor - a survey of global finance leaders by American Express, carried out in partnership with CFO Research, 72 per cent of Indian finance leaders say that creation of new jobs will accelerate the employment in the country. Growth in existing businesses will also drive employment, according to 68 per cent of those who responded to the questionnaire from India.
A similar percentage felt that employment-related legislation and policy will be the other opportunity to drive the employment agenda of the country. Respondents from India also pointed to shortage in skilled positions (22 per cent). “As with the economic outlook, India is at the top of the list of countries anticipating rising employment. However, the survey points to the shortage of skilled positions. We’re confident that with the Government’s increased focus to make India Job Ready, this gap will be bridged soon,” said Saru Kaushal Country Business Head, Global Corporate Payments, American Express .
Advancement in technology could also positively impact the job market in India, according to 58 per cent of those who responded from India to the online survey. Increasing employee satisfaction is also on top of the agenda for 44% of the Indian finance leaders polled. According to 29 per cent of those polled from India, headcount in their companies has increased at a faster clip than their revenues while 48 per cent said that the two had increased at about the same pace.
While the survey exhibits optimism for the job market in India it also gave some insights on finance professionals’ role in the decision making process within the companies. This role goes beyond the finance function into overall strategy for the company. Every Indian senior finance professional agreed that their opinion will carry weight on the strategic and operational decisions taken by companies. In fact, a majority envision career paths that take the CFO from finance into broader corporate leadership roles. Three-quarters of this year’s respondents (75 per cent), from India, say that they believe it is likely that their company’s CFO will eventually seek to become a CEO or move into an equivalent role.