SANTA CLARA, California, February 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Silicon Valley to remain innovation hub; Tier 2 cities in US to gain traction

Zinnov, a leading Market Expansion and Globalization Advisory firm, today released "Talent Outlook 2013", a report that highlights a paradigm shift in HR trends this year. The survey revealed that 2013 will be a year of skill and talent reconciliation, even as new skill sets are brought to focus and HR is challenged to implement strategic planning within the organization.  Zinnov is hosting a thought leadership summit "Confluence 2013" to deliberate and brainstorm on the findings of the study.

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Key Findings

• Organizations believe 25% of their current talent will become redundant in the next 3-5 years, while specialized skill sets in User Experience and Mobility see rising demand
• Hiring for Innovation will primarily be in the United States
• Tier II locations in the United States will be a key focus area for organizations looking to expand, while India and China will witness marginal growth

The Silicon Valley continues to be an innovation hub, with 80% of respondents to the Zinnov survey indicating that their organizations' headcount will increase the highest in this region. Respondents also revealed that 36% of their innovation, on average, would be driven in the Valley, with other US cities such as Seattle, Maryland, Dallas and Boston accounting for 18%. India ranked third as potential innovation region, with organizations revealing that 15% of innovation is expected out of the country, followed by EMEA at 10%.

Commenting on the study, Vamsee Tirukkala, Managing Principal, Zinnov, said, "Data scientists and user experience designers will witness very high demand, while mobile application developers and cloud computing experts will witness moderate to high demand. Significantly, all these skills were non-existent a decade ago. Organizations are also expected to increase their focus on soft skill development across levels and functions."

The released study brought to light that organizations are seeking talent with skills in the areas of Engineering (50% of respondents indicated that it would be among the top 3 skills of the future), followed by Analytics skills (40%) such as Big Data, Predictive Modelling, HR Analytics, and Mobility (32%).

The biggest talent challenges that organizations face are in the areas of niche hiring and skill set assessment, with 50% of respondents suggesting that these would be key focus areas for HR in 2013. While dedicated statistical teams within HR departments can reduce challenges around skill set assessment, large volume data analysis and workforce planning, over half the organizations do not have such resources and just 20% are focused on it for 2013.

Zinnov is hosting a thought leadership summit "Confluence 2013" to deliberate and brainstorm on the findings of the study. There are over 30 eminent speakers sharing their thoughts in the summit with over 400+ delegates attending the event from the industry. Topics for the summit include global innovation, building charters & COE, future of global R&D, next wave of technology hubs & building global talent in today's dynamic technology environment.

About The Survey

For "Talent Outlook 2013", Zinnov surveyed individuals in various HR functions across 40 global organizations, with 83% employing over 1,000 technology professionals. Organizations from across locations were profiled, including those headquartered in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Japan and Singapore. 89% of respondents were focused on technology domains such as semiconductor, software, telecom & networking, storage and internet.

About Zinnov LLC

Founded in 2002, Zinnov - meaning Zeal in Innovation - is a leading Globalization and Market Expansion Advisory firm, with specialization in areas like Global Sourcing, Emerging Markets Expansion, Human Capital Optimization, Small & Medium Businesses, Innovation, Cloud Computing and Enterprise Mobility. Zinnov provides advice to global leaders in business and technology and works collectively with them to tackle prevailing organizational challenges by analyzing changing dynamics, improving performance, and building institutional capability. The services delivered to its clients through advanced reasoning and analytical techniques provides solutions that help in integrating organizational vision, business definition and processes.

For more information, please contact:

Kailash Pandiyan
Senior Lead - Marketing, Zinnov LLC.
Email: Kailash@Zinnov.com
Phone: +1-281-362-2773