Indian SMBs Lag in Local Talent Hiring, Payoneer Report Reveals

Contrary to popular belief, India is a thriving technology hub, Payoneer’s recent SMB Ambitions Barometer Report 2024  reveals that Indian SMBs fall behind global peers in leveraging local talent from the country. Globally, SMBs prioritize local hiring, accounting for 57.1% of their workforce, followed by 17.4% of international talent. In contrast, Indian SMBs hire a considerably higher percentage of workers overseas (20.8%) than locally, with only 49.8% of their employees coming from India. The disparity highlights how important it is for Indian SMBs to close the gap with global standards by utilizing the large talent pool in the nation. The report also reveals the situation is changing as 73% of Indian SMBs are gradually planning to prioritize hiring local talent, planning to hire an average of 11 employees, with half being local hires.

Gaurav Shisodia, Payoneer’s Vice President – of India, commented, “Our SMB Ambitions Barometer 2024 report reveals an intriguing paradox in India's tech sector. Despite being innovators, Indian SMBs struggle to tap into local talent. Companies globally are seeking top talent at competitive rates, unrestricted by geographical boundaries. While global expansion and remote hiring offer new opportunities, local expertise remains crucial for business success. The key focus for Indian SMBs is now twofold: leveraging their innovation to attract local talent, while also finding the right mix of global and local expertise to fuel their international growth.

Some of the other key findings from the Payoneer SMB Ambitions Barometer Report are:-

61% of Indian SMBs believe AI will pave their pathto better global exposure

Business expansion in the domestic market and the neighboring countries continues to be one of the key areas of focus for Indian SMBs. Indian SMBs are looking to expand into South Asia (20%) and East Asia and the Pacific (19%) over the next five years, with both percentages higher than the survey averages of 11% and 12%, respectively

Globalization has been a top priority for the Indian SMBs to boost resilience, revenue, and customer base. Currently, the Indian SMBs primarily have their client base in countries like the US, Australia, China, and the UK. The US accounts for nearly 40% of the cross-border transactions for Indian SMBs. However, more better global presence means better exposure and higher capital flow

65% of Indian businesses believe a diverse and global vendor networkhelps protect against disruptions, demonstrating resilience and agilityagainst external threats

More than 58% of Indian SMBs have multiple payment options for accepting payments from international vendors and customers. Additionally, nearly 40%of them have adopted several other cross-border payment facilities like real-time currency conversion and automatic tax calculations to ease cross-border payments

However, more than 45% of the Indian SMBs face challenges in terms ofmaking or receiving cross-border payments. Some of the major challengesinclude foreign exchange rates, international trade compliance requirements,slow transaction time

Language and cultural barriers (38%), economic conditions (51%), limited networks (41%), and high debt-to-income ratios (39%) are key challenges for Indian SMBs aiming to expand globally