ATTENTION TO THE NEW JOB SEEKER IN IT (UTMOST IMPORTANT)

ATTENTION TO THE NEW JOB SEEKER IN IT (UTMOST IMPORTANT)

Why IT firms will hire fewer techies this year

• Posted by Gagan Randhawa on August 5, 2013 at 6:04pm in Articles

India’s IT sector might add to the nation’s woes of unemployment. Increase in automation and low attrition in the information technology sector may be hindrance for job seekers.

Job opportunities in this sector is expected to come decline by up to 17 percent to 1,50,000 in the current fiscal, according to Nasscom, a trade association of Indian information technology and business process outsourcing industry.

The $108-billion Indian IT-ITeS sector provides employment to about 3 million professionals.

When asked about the hiring environment, Nasscom President Som Mittal told PTI, “I think we will have net additions of 150,000-180,000 this year. Last year it was about 180,000.”

Explaining the declining job market, he added: "It might be less than last year, as it is getting non-linear and lower-end jobs are getting automated. The profile is changing and we need more Domain experts."

As against the industry average of 20 percent, attrition levels have also come down to around 14-15 percent. Mittal also mentioned that campus hiring may drop significantly due to change in hiring patterns.

"Campus hiring may be 60 percent of what it was last year," he said, pointing to the fact that employers are now focusing more on soft skills and leadership qualities when compared to technical skills.

Analysis showed that three years ago 80 percent focus for hiring professionals in the IT sector was based on technical skills.  "But now only 40 percent focus is on technical skills and the rest is on soft skills and Domain," Mittal assured.
 
India's four largest IT companies hiring data suggested a decline by over 60 percent in the April-June quarter of this year, according to media reports.

PTI reported that the top four IT services exporters made net additions of about 4,100 to their workforce during the quarter this year, against around 10,900 in the year-ago period.