Have you ever experienced the feeling of not being able to express exactly what you want to say in English, as compared to your native language? This is a feeling many probably go through, having been brought up with their mother tongue and hence often find it to be more comfortable.
A report by KPMG shows that there are currently 125 million English speakers in India but less than 0.3 million use it as their first language. In comparison, people prefer to use one of the 22 regional languages. As per the 2011 census, 55% of India’s population use Hindi as either their first or second language, indicating a preference for local languages over Hindi. However, in the business world and at your corporate jobs, English still dominates predominantly. The question we are answering today is, would regional content make certain aspects of work easier such as job search?
The challenge with job search
Even though job seeking in India has changed over the last ten years, with previously inaccessible information on salaries, working conditions and job options now being made available, challenges such as language barriers continue to plague job seekers.
Over the last five years, India has seen tremendous growth in terms of internet usage, and as a result, more people in India are finding jobs online than ever before. We are at a crucial time when the job market is seeing a huge talent churn due to accelerated digitization across industries and the consumption of local languages on the internet is gaining momentum.
We are also at the stage where the Indian labor market is witnessing positive momentum as new job postings in India are seeing a record high number. New job postings in July 2022 saw over 40.5 per cent growth above the pre-pandemic baseline (February 2020). This showcases the increase in demand for hiring across several industries and further necessitates the significance of easing the process of hiring to get quality talent across the country.
The rise of a new age workforce
What is important to note is the change in the current workforce population that increases the criticality of regional content. The post-pandemic jobs landscape is marked by two features – the rise of a gig workforce and increasing demand for talent from tier 2 and 3 cities. In the first, we are seeing the emergence of light skilled workers, those categories of workers who typically require a basic skill set to perform a task.
They engage in different sectors, such as e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing, construction, repair and maintenance, and retail. These include job roles like drivers, delivery personnel, security guards, personal care services, cleaning services, etc. This segment faces unique challenges in the job search process, the language barrier is one of them. In fact, data by Indeed shows that one of the biggest barriers for lightly skilled workers such as food and other delivery personnel, drivers, and personal care services is not knowing English (32 per cent).
Secondly, the digital transformation post-pandemic has broken the boundaries of geographic restriction on talent. With the success of remote work and untapped talent pool in smaller cities, organizations are looking beyond the metros for fulfilling their talent requirement.
Simplifying job search
Given India’s vast and diverse jobseeker pool, offering information on jobs in regional content has merit. Users generally prefer the comfort of utilizing one’s own language, allowing them the freedom to express themselves better in resumes and answers. Additionally, job seekers will be able to use certain products and feature more seamlessly, thus improving the accessibility of the site and enhancing their entire job search experience. Employers too will benefit by having access to a larger and diversified candidate pool available for them to hire from.
We are currently in a market that favors job seekers with companies fighting for talent and willing to offer competitive salaries and other benefits. As hiring continues to ramp up in India, it will be interesting to see how the needs of job seekers can be fulfilled to simplify their job search processes.
Written by- Saumitra Chand, Career Expert, Indeed
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