India Inc looks for talent from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and remote areas

Wiley Edge, a talent development solutions firm that hires, trains and deploys talent at client sites, has seen increasing demand from companies to build more representative and inclusive workforces.

Project Pancchi is Vedanta Limited's unique talent-acquisition programme, which aims to hire 1,000 girls from marginalised communities -- girls from lower-income families, who are likely to opt out of pursuing further studies and a fulfilling career, owing to financial and social constraints.

Launched around Women's Day 2023 at the mining giant’s alumina refinery in Odisha, the initiative has, as a first step, identified 40 women to sponsor for their higher education and then join Vedanta as graduate trainees.

Eventually, the aim is to expand the project and recruit women from many of the remote areas where Vedanta has operations such as Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Goa, Madhu Srivastava, group chief human resources officer at Vedanta Resources, told Moneycontrol.

It is not just Vedanta. Companies across sectors are identifying and recruiting talent from socially marginalised and economically backward communities. Wiley Edge, a talent development solutions firm that hires, trains and deploys talent at client sites, has seen increasing demand from companies to build more representative and inclusive workforces. It works with Fortune 500 companies.

“Individuals from relatively weaker socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrate a strong eagerness to learn, prove themselves and consistently deliver exceptional performance. In fact, they have consistently showcased their stability and excellence in various roles,” said Archana Jayaraj, director of Asia-Pacific talent and head of India operations for the New York Stock Exchange-listed firm.

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So far, Wiley Edge alumni include 24 percent of first-generation graduates, 28 percent from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and 20 percent from rural representation.

Remote areas in focus

The Hyderabad-based MSN Laboratories is conducting recruitment of young science stream undergraduates (10+2) belonging to diverse socioeconomic backgrounds from remote villages around Telangana and Andhra Pradesh providing them with sponsored graduation programmes, followed by a series of focused training sessions to enhance their knowledge and skills to make them industry-ready upon graduation.

Till date, the pharmaceutical company has covered more than 10 locations and offered the programme to over 60 young persons, aiming to reach close to 100 candidates by July in its first phase.

“We thought of reaching out to talent in their early stage and moulding them to our requirements. This thought led us to find the best-in-class young talent, and train them to become part of the SDT (self-directed team) members,” said Padmanabhan S, head of human resources at MSN Laboratories.

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In addition to traditional methods of acquiring talent, Tata Power Renewable Energy said it will continue to strengthen its systems aimed at building a talent pipeline, such as the “Earn while you learn to program” plan that offers a bachelor’s degree in vocational education to 10th and 12th standard and/or candidates at industrial training institutes, with a focus on local communities for better retention.