NEW DELHI: Improving workforce diversity is important for 90 percent of Indian CEOs, significantly higher than the global average of 82 percent, a PwC report says.

According to the PwC report, workforce diversity and pace of demographic change is a far bigger issue among Indian CEOs as compared to their counterparts in developed and other emerging markets.

“Indian CEOs view demographics and the challenges of dealing with our demographic dividend as a significant trend (71 percent), but it is not so much for China (48 percent),” the report said.

PwC’s Key Trends in Human Capital 2014 report revealed that by 2030, the wage gap between developed economies and some emerging nations like South Africa and Russia would have been bridged significantly.

However, India and Philippines would still enjoy significant difference in wages when compared against matured markets.

According to the report, the talent and workforce priorities in emerging markets are significantly different from developed markets and even within emerging markets, HR is maturing at different rates in different regions.

Improving workforce diversity is important for 90 percent of Indian CEOs, which is significantly higher than the global average of 82 percent, China (84 percent) and Russia (51 percent).

Moreover, only 25 percent Indian CEOs view creating jobs for young people as a priority for the government, more than half of Russian CEOs feel otherwise.

The report said that organisations generally rush to recruit as soon as economic conditions improve and growth returns as they feel the need to compensate for workforce cutbacks made during the recession, and to counter the effect of a rising resignation rate. The result is a growing global talent war.

“Competition for the best talent is more intense than ever, and the pressure to maximise the return on the investment you make in your people has never been higher. Good talent decisions are based on knowledge, understanding and analysis.” PwC Global HR and Workforce Analytics Leader Anthony Bruce said.

“Workforce diversity and pace of demographic change is a far bigger issue among Indian CEOs as compared to counterparts in developed and other emerging markets,” PwC India People and Change Consulting leader Padmaja Alaganandan said.
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