Manpower shortage causing project delays
According to a study by RICS, by 2020, the Indian realty sector will face an 85% shortage of skilled manpower, across various professional categories. A shortfall of about 44 million core qualified professionals, is likely to affect the execution capabilities of Indian developers. By 2020, the sector will require 5 million civil engineers, architects and planners, as against the expected supply of less than a million of these professionals. The RICS study estimates that by 2020, the urban population will increase by 123 million. Consequently, the demand for real estate is likely to touch 95 billion sq ft, across residential, retail, commercial, industrial and civil amenities, during 2010-20. This translates to an average demand of 8.7 billion sq ft, every year. Real estate sector faces a skill challenge The real estate and construction sector employs 50 million people, of which, only 2 million are professionally qualified. While the Indian real estate sector offers one of the best pay packages in the corporate world, it continues to face high attrition rates, owing to job dissatisfaction and lack of career growth. Even though the sector has succeeded in poaching professionals from other sectors like IT/ITeS, banking, finance, telecom, etc., the retention of these professionals remains a challenge, as this young and qualified work force often return to their core sectors, even at the expense of a salary cut. Sachin Sandhir, managing director – emerging business, RICS, laments that the lack of quality talent has significantly affected the image of the sector. “There is a pressing need to adapt and learn new ways to do business, which in turn, will aid all stakeholders to stay abreast of the knowledge curve and strengthen their ability to survive the paradigm shift that is taking place in global realty markets,” says Sandhir.
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