New Delhi: An increased focus on health, especially on digital health, is creating new roles in the healthtech sector.
“Healthtech is leading the wellness charge in 2024, witnessing explosive growth. Leadership is in high demand for this segment,” says Somdutta Singh, Founder and CEO of Assiduus Global Inc.
CIEL HR’s Health Tech Sector Employment Trends Report shows a 74 per cent increase in healthtech employment over the last two years despite the funding winter and drop in investment in 2023. Indeed, there has been some slowdown in hiring amid cost efficiencies but roles in sales, technology and product development are on the rise and the sector’s hiring grew 9 per cent, says the report based on analysis of 42,166 employees in 38 healthtech organisations as well as data collected from 241 job postings on job portals.
Overall outlook for the sector
Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR, says: “The healthtech sector is bound to grow rapidly due to the socioeconomic changes in India and the competitive advantages we offer for the world in patient care as well as in manufacturing and R&D. We have been seeing an upswing in recent times on a consistent basis. Despite the funding winter, the hiring numbers have grown and the outlook for the year ahead is significantly stronger. Companies must fine-tune their strategies for talent attraction and retention to make the most out of the opportunity available for us.”The domains with hiring demand are software development, data analytics and quality assurance. Roles in demand include ops engineer, mobile app developer, full stack developer, data scientist and data engineer. Some of the key job titles in demand include software developer, software engineer, product manager and AI engineer.
In the sales domains, prominent positions in demand include sales manager, business development manager and corporate sales manager.
Skills in Python, .Net, data science, MS Dynamics and AI, as well as expertise in data security and compliance protocols are being preferred.
Role requirements by levels
The report reveals that 44 per cent of hires were allocated to entry-level and junior positions, while 35 per cent were deployed at the mid-level, with individuals possessing 5 to 10 years of work experience. It also says that 21 per cent of positions were filled with seasoned professionals with 10 to 30 years of expertise.
Singh says that boards are looking for leaders who can navigate regulatory hurdles specific to health data and privacy. They are also looking for leaders with data and analytics acumen.
Healthtech is awash in data. Boards need leaders who can leverage this data to develop effective health solutions and improve patient outcomes. They are looking for leaders with a deep understanding of patient needs and a commitment to ethical healthcare practices.
Challenges the sector needs to address in hiring
The report highlights that 50 per cent of healthtech executives are open to new opportunities. Attrition rates are high with median tenure of two years, which is less than that in traditional sectors where tenure is about 5 years. On gender ratio, the report says 24 per cent of the professionals are women.
With a projected employment growth of 15-20 per cent, the sector is expected to see more demand for skilled professionals.
