It's a great time for technology, especially in a country like ours; we are growing more than ever. The fact that professionals have the choice and bandwidth to move across and make these changes says a lot. We have come a long way, and there is more to do. There are multiple factors that contribute to the current labor market dynamic. Urbanization has played a major role in this. As supply and demand increase proportionally, the inflow of people rises exponentially.

With tier-2 cities coming-up with better infrastructure and an affordable cost of living, professionals are bound to incline towards making a switch. Climate and culture of a city have a huge part to play in this transition. Taking an example of our city itself, in the last decade, Pune has experienced growth in terms of education with multiple new universities, manufacturing & IT industries and offices setup right from the heart of the city to the outskirts.

Secondly, technology has accelerated at a pace that was unimaginable a few years back. What we had aimed for in 4-5 years is now achievable in two years or lesser. With new skill-sets coming-in, there is a demand for new jobs, which is why professionals are becoming more competitive, in terms of learning and climbing-up the ladder. After all, industry knowledge is one of the most sought-after skill (40 percent). The aspirations of an individual, compensation and how a company weighs diversity and inclusivity,

hugely affects the move.

Most importantly, the culture of an organization determines if the employees are going to stick around or not in the long run. We are looking for `Culture Thriving' rather than `Culture Fit' employees. This approach will help us focus on the new picture and match the goals of the organization with that of its employees. Research conducted by Fujitsu titled, `Co-creating Success' suggests that almost 46 percent of employees believe that their current workplace does not have a positive impact on the recruitment and retention of people with key skills. Managers play a critical role, as more often than not, exiting employees quote `quitting the manager and not the job' as their reason for a switch. We need to embrace this challenge and be cognizant of the steps we undertake to reduce these numbers.

High employee engagement levels have shown to have a significantly positive impact in the workplace, from increasing productivity to reducing sick leave and higher retention of employees. One of the researches conducted by Fujitsu suggests that implementing new tools and technologies to boost productivity (44 percent), focusing more on training & development (42 percent), and improving employees' understanding of the organization's strategy & direction (41 percent) are the top three reasons why employee engagement has risen.

Additionally, we cannot emphasize more on how technology and access to the internet has caused a paradigm shift in accessibility to information. Unlike the earlier days when job openings were advertised in newspapers, we have numerous websites and platforms just dedicated to job postings. Even companies, both IT giants and startups, have their own `careers' page. Technology has hit this arena with lightning speed and people are more aware of what is happening around them and what opportunities are out there for them.

As employees find themselves working longer hours, they are also looking for ways to achieve a balance between work and personal lives. However, 35 percent rate their employer's ability to support a good work/life balance as only adequate or poor. This is one facet that companies need to investigate seriously. To sum it up, from an HR perspective, I cannot put enough stress on the fact that we need to work on building an emotionally intelligent and sensitive environment that is driven by diversity, inclusivity and belonging. These are exciting times to be in; the pace at which things are moving, there is so much to look forward to.