At a time when automation is killing thousands of jobs, there’s one role that’s here to stay: sales.
There could be 2.5 million new jobs opening up in India over the next three years, staffing firm TeamLease Services said in a report on March 28. Artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to cause an increase of between 15% and 25% in the number of sales jobs across sectors and the growth of e-payments will result in an 8% addition, the report said.
This is mainly because as business models change due to automation and digitisation, new sales functions are being created across industries. Sectors such as organised retailing, construction and real estate, and healthcare will create the most number of sales jobs.
Additionally, the report said, sales roles are evolving to include an ever-widening range of tasks. For instance, sales managers now need to upskill to become consultants, relationship managers, and deal-makers.
Amidst the surge in sales jobs, there’s also a demand-supply mismatch across sectors and levels of organisations, according to TeamLease. For instance, many sales professionals are deficient in aspects such as networking, negotiation, or persuasive skills; product knowledge; tech skills, and awareness of market trends.
Given the churn among sales professionals and attrition across industries, companies must reskill existing employees and streamline their hiring and employee-retention plans, the report said.