New Delhi: greater attention to health, especially in digital healthis creating new roles in the health technology sector.
“Healthtech leads the charge for well-being in 2024 and will witness explosive growth. Leadership is in high demand in this segment,” says Somdutta Singh, Founder and CEO, Assiduus Global Inc.
CIEL HR’s HealthTech Employment Trends Report shows a 74 percent increase in healthtech employment over the past two years despite the funding winter and investment drop in 2023. In fact , there has been some slowdown in hiring amid cost efficiencies, but roles in sales, technology and product development are on the rise and hiring in the sector grew 9 percent, says the report based on an analysis of 42,166 employees in 38 health technology organizations, as well as data collected from 241 job postings on job portals.
General outlook for the sector
Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR, says, “The health technology sector is set to grow rapidly due to the socio-economic changes in India and the competitive advantages we offer to the world in patient care as well as in manufacturing and R&D. We have been seeing an uptick of late steadily. Despite the funding winter, hiring numbers have increased and the outlook for next year is significantly stronger. “Companies must refine their talent attraction and retention strategies to make the most of the opportunity we have available.” The domains in demand for hiring are software development, data analysis and quality control. In-demand roles include operations engineer, mobile app developer, full-stack developer, data scientist, and data engineer. Some of the key jobs in demand include software developer, software engineer, product manager, and artificial intelligence engineer.
In the field of sales, the most in-demand positions are sales director, business development director and corporate sales director.
Skills in Python, .Net, data science, MS Dynamics, and AI are preferred, as well as experience in data security and compliance protocols.
Tiered role requirements
The report reveals that 44 percent of hires were assigned to entry-level and junior-level positions, while 35 percent were deployed at the mid-level, with people possessing 5 to 10 years of work experience. It also says that 21 percent of positions were filled by experienced professionals with between 10 and 30 years of experience.
Singh says boards are looking for leaders who can navigate regulatory hurdles specific to health data and privacy. They also look for leaders with data and analytics acumen.
Healthtech is inundated with data. Boards need leaders who can leverage this data to develop effective health solutions and improve patient outcomes. They seek leaders with a deep understanding of patient needs and a commitment to ethical healthcare practices.
Challenges that the sector must address in hiring
The report highlights that 50 percent of health technology executives are open to new opportunities. Attrition rates are high with an average tenure of two years, which is less than in traditional sectors where tenure is approximately five years. Regarding the gender ratio, the report says that 24 percent of professionals are women.
With projected employment growth of 15 to 20 percent, the sector is expected to experience increased demand for skilled professionals.
