Wherever you go in Mumbai at the moment, the city is adorned with brightly coloured boards saying ‘Mumbai is Upgrading’.
The metro, finally a much-needed addition to the packed to the brim train network, seems to be moving full steam ahead and the government seems determined to make a slight dent in achieving some of the infrastructure development targets.
In this city alone, there is a new airport proposed, a metro, enhanced east-west north-south connectivity through link roads/transharbor links/flyovers, ROBS, skywalks, subways etc. We see a similar trend persist across the country’s urban and semi-urban landscape.
This is of course, in addition to the goals laid out by the Smart Cities Mission and the ‘Housing for All’ agenda that is mandated to have 100 Smart Cities, and build 20 million affordable homes by 2022 respectively.
REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY SET TO BE A $180 BILLION OPPORTUNITY BY 2022
A recent newsflash highlighted that the real estate industry is slated to be a $180 billion opportunity by 2022 with the contribution of the housing sector to GDP anticipated to double to 11 per cent in the coming years.
While this is all good news and bodes well to meeting our development agenda, one of the key questions that come to mind is – who is going to build all this and are they skilled enough to meet the country’s development requirements?
A KPMG report recently released in 2016 highlighted that the total skill requirement in real estate in the coming years is 75 million
With the new regulatory framework now firmly in place, as well as the thrust on development, streamlining and organizing this essential but traditionally fragmented industry through skilled manpower has become a prerogative.
According to recent reports, the shortfall of core professionals in real estate alone is to the tune of 4 million.
PERSONAL INCIDENT WHICH SHOWS THE IMPACT OF UNSKILLED REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS
A recent incident at home only further heightened the urgency of the issue to me.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) recently commissioned an upgradation of our boxes to electric meter boxes.
While this was a welcome change, within minutes of the completely unplanned installation, there were explosions and blasts across every electrical unit and gadget in my home.
Apart from the apparent danger of a short circuit, the net result was the replacement of 30 per cent of all our electrical devices including ACs and TVs.
This was entirely because the engineer/manpower sent by the BEST had:
- Not followed any checklist to ensure that the installation was done correctly
- He had incorrectly placed all the wiring because he had not been trained
While upgradation is most welcome, who is taking on the onus of upskilling both private and public sector employees across different job roles to ensure that development happens correctly?
REAL ESTATE EMPLOYEES LACKING JOB-READY SKILLS
It has been estimated that for every 10,000 fresh graduate jobs in real estate posted on job portals such as Naukri, there are only around 3000 applicants.
As one of the few and leading real estate education institutes, we can see that fresh graduates are focused on generic careers such as IT, finance, market etc, but continue to be unaware of the job opportunities that the real estate sector has to offer.
Today, with increased regulatory vigilance, real estate companies gaining scale, an increase in investments by private equity funds in real estate firms, as well as a number of large brands entering the space, there is greater focus by companies on talent acquisition and retention.
Building enhanced delivery capabilities within their organizations have become essential for real estate companies to meet the stipulations of the new RERA Act.
With attractive incentive structures and greater professionalism across the sector, there is a wonderful opportunity to build a lucrative career.
JOB ROLES IN REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY
Some of the ‘top of the pyramid’ career opportunities in real estate can be categorised into the following segments: specialised professionals, core professionals, non-core professionals and real estate services.
Specialised professionals
- Valuers
- Quantity surveyors
- Facility managers
- Property managers
- Sustainable development experts
Core professionals
- Engineers
- Architects and planners
Non-core professionals
- Management
- Business administration
- Chartered accountants
- Marketing professionals
- Sales professionals
- Project managers
- Finance analysts
- Lawyers
- Electrical engineers
- RERA Compliance Officers
- Customer Relationship Manager/Customer Centricity
REAL ESTATE SERVICES
Real estate services include services such as consulting, brokerage and other ancillary services.
With the recently proposed regulatory amendments, the real estate brokerage sector is on the path to getting more organized and will over time operate in line with global benchmarks.
This will create an organized entrepreneurial segment with licensed brokers and create a lucrative career opportunity within the sector for students, graduates as well as for women homemakers.
– Shubika Bilkha, Business Head at The Real Estate Management Institute (REMI)
Read: 4 soft skills every Real Estate professional must have and why they are important
Read: Careers in Real Estate: The industry worth 180 billion USD by 2022
Read: 9 tips to make it big as a real estate consultant
