Foreign lands turn hunting ground for CXO search companies
Executive search firms say about 30-50% of their CXO searches in the last six to 18 months have been looking at potential global candidates, up from about 10-15% a few years ago.
There is a preference for returning Indians fuelled by a push from companies and boards amid an increasing need for professionals with a keen knowledge and understanding of global markets. An acute demandsupply mismatch in the leadership talent market and the need to hire for specialist roles in high-tech manufacturing, automotive, electric vehicles (EVs), pharmaceuticals, chemicals, hardcore product engineering and services industries have underscored the trend, said experts. “About one in three leadership searches that we conduct today are global, not limited to India, reaching out to people in Singapore, US, Canada, London, and Middle East, showing the rising demand for the global talent pool of Indians,” said Puneet Pratap Singh, partner-in-charge at Heidrick & Struggles India.
“There is a demand for global professionals in technology, for instance people who can build and run large data centres, cloud computing and storage… in addition to professionals with deep expertise in hightech manufacturing, automotive and EV, including autonomous vehicle technologies,” said K Sudarshan, MD, India, and regional chair Asia, EMA Partners. “About 40-50% of our search universe will include global candidates and returning Indians apart from local candidates and typically about 20% resulting in appointment of global candidates,” he said. “Even in
