OREANDA-NEWS. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, recently joined a prestigious group of leading global companies, academics, think tanks, and journalists to examine the global challenges of STEM education, talent mobility and how to engage to build the next generation of talent. Taking place at the National Press Club in DC on January 14,“The World in 2050: Talent Mobility and the Future of Jobs” event sought answers to the fundamental questions of why global businesses face significant challenges in finding qualified talent with millions of STEM positions emerging and 200 million people globally unemployed.

As a leading employer of US and worldwide STEM talent, TCS served as a presenting sponsor of the event, convened by the Diploamtic Courier, STEMconnector®, Global Action Platform and +Social Good, along with Pepsico, Wal-Mart, and Cisco. Surya Kant, president, TCS North America, UK and Europe, spoke in the opening panel, offering his perspective on the subjects of global talent supply, demand and mobility, and bridging the skills gap.

“With the global economy increasingly centered around knowledge, strong STEM education and open policies in the digital age can open up longstanding boundaries and allow both individual talent and businesses to thrive,” said Mr Kant. “Developing STEM skills and capabilities are critical to innovation and entrepreneurship, which power global economies. Being fluent in the digital economy provides today's generation of learners tremendous prospects to collaborate and create innovative solutions to solve today's and our future's most pressing problems.” Reaching more than 88 million social media impressions, the event was heard and viewed around the world through a live feed, inspiring thousands to live tweet from Washington, DC, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, Singapore and across Europe.

One of the key activities stemming from the event is the Diplomatic Courier sharing the core panel ideas at the World Economic Forum in Davos and then producing a substantive feature in the publication's next print edition. “With talent having such a huge impact on the success and sustainability of businesses, it is critical to examine the demographic shifts in demand and supply of global talent,” said Balaji Ganapathy, head of workforce effectiveness, TCS North America.

“At TCS we have, for example, seen first-hand the value that embracing Generation Y attittudes, behaviors and technology needs can bring. Our employees have embraced social platforms that facilitate collaboration on everything from designing valuable new software to volunteering in the community. Because of this and other organizational efforts, we are proud to have one of the lowest attrition rates in the industry.” To attract and retain employees - about 70 percent of whom are under the age of thirty - TCS is also engaged in a series of programs to sow the next generation of talent by actively working to enhance the quality and accessibility of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education across the nation. For example, TCS recently brought together 30 organizations across sectors to an executive round table on the “Future of Computer Science in U.S.”

As the founding leadership partner for US2020 (us2020.org) and STEMconnector®'s Million Women Mentors, TCS is also using corporate volunteers for STEM mentoring as a means to attract and prepare young talent to flourish in STEM careers, with the goal of engaging over two million volunteers as mentors over the next decade. In addition, through the company's goIT student technology program, TCS is working with local organizations to teach computer science in high schools across America. Starting from two schools in 2009, this grassroots level effort - led by employee volunteers - has expanded to over 35 school districts and covered over 7,000 students.