Tata group, Reliance Industries, Adani Group, Vedanta, Larsen & Toubro and JSW Group are among the conglomerates rushing to hire expatriates and returning Indians to propel their new businesses such as renewables, semiconductors, electric vehicles (EVs), green energy, hydrogen, solar, battery and cell technology. These business houses are looking to expeditiously overcome a severe talent crunch locally and reinforce their ambitious expansion plans, said top company executives and search industry experts.
Professionals from countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, apart from the US and Europe, are being tapped, with most recruitment being at the senior leadership level, the people said. “Many companies in areas such as batteries, EVs, semiconductors, hydrogen and green energy, are seeking to hire returning Indians and expats from countries such as Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, the UK and the US,” said Navnit Singh, chairman and regional managing director of India at Korn Ferry, a global executive search and HR consulting firm.
Tata group is setting up an AI-enabled semiconductor fabrication facility in Dholera, Gujarat, in partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation . The Mumbai-based group is seeking top quality experienced talent from Taiwan, including equipment and automation engineers, said to a company official.
Tata Electronics, the group’s electronics contract manufacturing business, has trained 400 employees so far, with more set to travel to Taiwan to learn specialised skills required for chip manufacturing.
Sourcing from Asia Pacific
Tata group has earmarked up to Rs 91,000 crore for building the fab unit, with the project expected to create more than 20,000 direct and indirect skilled jobs. The group’s multi-fab vision for Dholera aims to create over 100,000 skilled jobs.
“There is a whole hiring of expats and returning Indians across the board happening in most of the large conglomerates that have lined up expansion plans or are foraying into new business areas,” said Atul Vohra, managing partner at Transearch India, a leadership search firm.
Adani, which aims to have 50 GW renewable power capacity by 2030, and is partnering Israel’s Tower Semiconductor to set up a semiconductor chip manufacturing plant in Taloja, Maharashtra, is hiring expats for niche roles for this, as well as in digital and technology domains, people in the know said.
“Talent for such roles is sourced from Asia Pacific,” said one of the persons. “Typically, these roles are in mid-to-senior management.”
Aditya Narayan Mishra, chief executive of Ciel HR, noted that companies are struggling to find talent domestically, in some new skill areas. “There is a huge rise in demand for people in senior roles from the Asia Pacific region,” he said.
L&T Semiconductor Technologies, which opened offices in Japan, Europe and the US and bought semiconductor design startup SiliConch Systems, has also hired expat executives.
Reliance, Vedanta and JSW did not respond to ET’s queries.
