Drone industry on hiring spree, focus on tapping experience

Drone pilots constitute the majority of job profiles available in the drone industry, making up nearly 20 percent of jobs, according to staffing firm NLB Services.

The drone industry is on a hiring spree, seeking to attract experienced professionals by offering competitive salary packages.

To meet demand, professionals are coming on board even from the semiconductor industry and other major manufacturing hubs.

Drone manufacturing and related services will create a multitude of jobs and the industry is pegged to reach over Rs 30,000 crore, Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said last year.

On the manufacturing side alone, he added, India is looking at Rs 5,000 crore of investment and the creation of 10,000 jobs.

“Organisations are increasing support by hiring graduates and trained/certified pilots in dual participation with universities, colleges and institutions certified to conduct technical training for such talent,” said Munira Loliwala, Business Head at staffing firm TeamLease Digital.

With a workforce of over 250 employees, Garuda Aerospace is looking to hire professionals with around two years of experience and is seeking to recruit more than 300 candidates in the next quarter.

Recently, the company received over 8,000 job enquiries; it plans to have a presence in every one of 775 districts across India and 100 countries with candidates speaking multiple languages, said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace.

Drone pilots constitute the majority of job profiles available in the drone industry, making up nearly 20 percent of jobs, according to staffing firm NLB Services.

Some other profiles in the segment include drone operators, program managers, drone technicians, pilot trainers, data scientists, software engineers, and so on.

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“We are expecting about 10,000 new jobs to be opened in the sectors over the next two years,” said Sachin Alug, Chief Executive Officer at NLB Services.

Firms like TSAW Drones, Scandron, and Aereo, formerly Aarav Unmanned Systems have opportunities available in areas such as marketing, drone piloting, drone maintenance, design and operations.

“Firstly, we are looking to hire DGCA-certified pilots who possess expertise in operating large drones and have experience with Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. It is important for them to have the necessary certifications and skills to ensure safe and efficient drone operations,” said Arjun Naik, founder and CEO of Scandron.

Additionally, the company is also interested in hiring individuals who have a strong understanding of sensor fusion control systems and control logic.

“Aerospace and Electronics Engineers who possess knowledge in these areas would be valuable assets to our team,” Naik said.

Industry experts say the drone and geospatial industry are still in their infancy. Awareness of career opportunities in the industry is limited and needs to be spread wider.

Aereo has partnered with SJC Institute of Technology in Chikkaballapura, Karnataka to open India’s first holistic drone technology Centre of Excellence where students will be taught multiple courses including a certified remote pilot training program.

It will provide them with exposure to the sector to build a career in the drone industry.

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Another hiring strategy is the continuous creation of job opportunities communicated on multiple social platforms. To increase the talent catchment area, Aereo does not limit its recruitment by the number of years of experience.

“We believe in skill-building, attitude for growth and ownership, and gauge the potential of every applicant. Through these methods, we’re not only able to attract new talent but also retain them and scale at an exponential rate,” said Vipul Singh, co-founder and CEO of Aereo.

As demand for people ready to fit into available job roles is high, experienced professionals from the semiconductor segment are being taken on for design manufacturing processes. In services, the targeted sectors to reduce the talent gap are telecom tower units, TeamLease Digital’s Loliwala said, adding that Human Resource teams in this sector are the highest users of the so-called Hire, Train and Deploy / Build, Operate and Transfer model for talent hiring.

In general, industry leaders say technical skills such as problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities are highly valued.

“Multitasking abilities with attention to detail, adaptability, effective communication skills, and problem-solving are also critical for success in this field. The ability to quickly adjust to changing situations and priorities is essential in today’s fast-paced work environment,” said Sudhanshu Mishra, head of people at TSAW Drones.

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For drone-based tech positions, Aereo’s Singh said experience in full-stack development, embedded systems, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle automation and systems engineering, was critical.

For this a solid command and portfolio in languages such as C++/C, Python, Java, and their frameworks are helpful.