Sri Lanka has seen a massive talent migration over the last couple of years – one that’s led to an unprecedented brain drain, which is proving to be a challenge for the country’s corporate sector.

“If you look at the current talent pool of professionals, 30-40 percent would have migrated within the last two years,” the Senior General Manager of HR, Administration, Purchasing & Sustainability at A. Baur & Co. Ken Vijayakumar noted, on LMDtv.

He continued: “It is not the baby boomers or Gen X who have left; it’s mostly the millennials and Gen Y. We don’t have proper data on the migration [numbers] but it can be ascertained that around 350,000 people have left the country.”

Vijayakumar added: “Companies are doing many things such as upskilling and reskilling the available talent pool – because business has to go on.”

“Sri Lanka has been a very resilient nation, having been through nearly 30 years of war, the Easter Sunday attacks and the economic crisis,” he pointed out, stating: “So I’d say that as an HR professional, I look at it very positively and constructively.”

He believes that while recruiting more young people, corporates should also learn from countries like Japan and begin offering retirees opportunities to return to the workforce.

Vijayakumar is also optimistic about harnessing the benefits of brain gain.

He discussed how the island can attract more digital nomads to its shores: “Due to positive web rankings by tourists, Sri Lanka is being positioned as an attractive destination – we’ve even been ranked as one of the safest countries for female travellers. We need to take advantage of these endorsements.”

Many things must be done to position Sri Lanka as a preferred place of work for digital nomads, starting with improving the country’s broadband speeds and bandwidth.

“The authorities should work on bringing people down to Sri Lanka to work here as countries like Malaysia and Singapore are doing. They are making it easy for expatriates to work and live, and we should adopt a similar strategy to attract more people to come and work here,” Vijayakumar recommended.

And he highlighted the dynamics surrounding the phenomenon of the multigenerational workforce in the corporate world today: “When talking about diversity in the workplace, addressing generational gaps is important.”

Stressing that all generations should understand how to work with each other, he asserted: “Very often, you have Gen Xers or baby boomers in managerial or senior positions. They need to understand the expectations of other generations like Gen Y and Z – or as they call them now, ‘zillennials’.”

“They expect faster career development, and want more engagement and involvement. Rather than instructing them to do things a certain way, you have to ask them to give you proposals, ideas and suggestions on how to do things,” Vijayakumar explained.

He continued: “Many Gen Xers and baby boomers don’t understand the mindset of zillennials. You have to give them opportunities and challenging projects; when they’re involved, they feel they’re being recognised. The good old management rules of ‘do what I say’ and ‘the boss is always right’ do not apply anymore.”

“Even in terms of performance management, when you give objectives to zillennials, it shouldn’t be one-way communication. You have to talk to them about your expectations, and ask them what they can achieve within the given timeframe and what support they need. And if they say they can’t achieve the objectives, you need to ask them why and how you can help,” he urged.

Vijayakumar also brought up the concept of reverse mentoring – baby boomers and Gen X must get into the habit of learning from zillennials about tech innovations and developments.

“If you don’t know something, you should leave your ego out and ask. We need to change with the times,” he explained.