The service sector scenario in India is complex and there is huge shortage of skilled manpower. There is an alarming trend in the manner the professionals get work and paid in India. MeetUrPro.Com, which is India’s first online marketplace for professional services has recently conducted a survey with professionals including CAs, Lawyers, Company Secretary to understand their client composition, billing cycle and structure, online presence, nature of work etc.
According to the findings of the survey, there is an immediate need of a structured and organized platform to help these professionals get assignments with compelling benefits. The major finding of the survey stated that these professionals are still dependent on their friends and families for their assignments, they are underpaid and these professionals have to wait more than 2 months in certain cases after completion of their assignments for getting their payment.
Over the past few years, economic advancement and growth has resulted in the globalization of the world’s economies. This wave of globalization and economic progress has resulted in huge opportunities and potential for business professionals to expand their footprint all over the world.
In a country like India which has an internet user base of over 243.2 million and is growing at a fast pace, only 10% of the professionals get their assignments online. Around 75% professionals still depend on the referrals from friends, family, existing clients and other professionals.
According to the survey, more than 65% of the professionals have to wait for more than a month in order to get their professional fees. These professionals, in spite of being highly qualified and graduating from top law schools and spending huge amount of money for their courses, have to struggle for their professional fees. Around 10% of these professionals have to wait for more than 3 months for their payments.
Around 48% of these professionals feel that they are not compensated for the work assigned to them. Another alarming fact that has come out from this survey is that 96% of the professionals end up doing more work at some point of time and are not compensated well enough.
Beyond the myriad concerns and challenges, lie opportunities and a promise of growth. Looking at the current situation and the unorganized structure of the sector, there is a dire need of an institutionalized online platform for professionals to get assignments across geographies. Around 75% of the professionals who were surveyed feel that there is a need to connect and engage with customers online.
Divakar Vijayasarthy, Co-Founder, MeetUrPro.Com said, "The professional services sector in India is a highly unorganized one. There is no avenue that a professional in India can source work from except through his personal network. This hampers the professional’s business prospect and limits his learning in the process as well as makes it extremely difficult for first generation professionals to blossom. The fact that almost the entire sector is away from the online revolution is a dampener. This is enough an indication that these professionals now need to embrace technology and expand their horizons on the internet. Going online will help them access a larger and diverse set of clients, different kinds of work requirements across geographies and thus be assured of good compensation at par with their international counterparts."