'Indian cos attrition rate at 14%, higher than global average'

Many Indian companies are facing challenges in attracting and retaining talent with a high attrition rate of 14%, which is more than the global average, says a report released today.

"Attrition in India is at 14%, marginally higher than global and Asia Pacific countries (11.20% and 13.81%, respectively)," global professional services firm Towers Watson said in the report.

The report said that 92% of firms in the country experience challenges in attracting talent with critical skills while over 75% organisations face challenges in retaining high performing talent.

For Indian employers, the top two priorities are 'career advancement opportunities' and 'challenging work environment', while for employees 'job security' and 'career advancement opportunities' are their main priorities.

"... 74% of the employers in India feel that their employees are actively engaged with colleagues who are in different countries as compared to 65% employers globally," it added.

According to the report, employees have been expected to work longer and rest less.

"... This trend seems likely to continue with over half the respondents globally agreeing that employees have been working long hours than normal in the past three years. Over a quarter of the Indian employers expect employees will work long hours than normal over the next three years," it noted.

The conclusions are based on responses from 1,605 companies worldwide, including 796 from Asia Pacific.

Towers Watson India Director (Talent & Reward Practice) Subeer Bakshi said that Employee Value Proposition (EVP) can be an effective tool in creating right balance between employee preferences and employer needs.