The Readiness of the Indian IT Middle Manager: To Lead Change as the Industry Transforms

The global economy has been in a state of disruption brought about mainly by advances in technology. The Indian IT industry is poised to lead this change, given its previous achievement in this area and the country’s young, educated population. However, the cost advantage it has thrived on so far is soon waning due to rising talent costs and automation replacing most routine IT work. This calls for a new set of skills that include both tangible technical skills as well as intangible ones such as critical thinking and decision-making, which are currently in short supply in the Indian IT talent market. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and accelerated this change and raised new talent challenges for Indian IT companies in the form of the necessity to enable remote work quickly, ensure employees wellbeing–both physical and mental–and deal with employees reassessing their what they seek from their employer. The position of the Indian middle manager in these conditions might seem fragile as organizations try to restructure themselves to meet these challenges but research shows that this layer can play a crucial role in keeping workers motivated and engaged, connecting various layers of management and employees, and offering innovative solutions due to their involvement with day-to-day work. But how can it be enabled to drive and nurture this change and play a key role in it? What changes will these professionals need to make to not only survive this transformation but to lead it?