IT hiring in Q4 to be at par with last year

The hiring momentum has picked up in the IT sector, reflecting an uptick in the demand outlook. However, it is yet to match the last year's level. In a conversation with Bizz Buzz, Neeti Sharma, Senior Vice-President of staffing firm TeamLease Services, said that employee addition in Q4 of the ongoing fiscal (January-March of 2021) is likely to be almost similar as compared to the same period of last year. She also said that big IT services firms are likely to rollout pay hikes and bonuses from early next year

The biggest advantage of the Covid pandemic is the use of technology and the adoption of technology. The demand for technology-driven products has gone up multi-fold. This pandemic has changed what employers have planned for. What we are witnessing is that companies have emerged with new priorities and objectives for their businesses

IT firms will continue to go to the campuses of engineering colleges. However, fresh graduates with newer skillsets like RPA (robotic process automation), data engineering, AI and ML, will be in demand. Otherwise, companies may not hire them. So, it is advisable that new graduates should train themselves in the newer skillsets till they actually join their employers

The overall hiring in the IT industry has improved quarter-on-quarter, but the numbers are still down as compared to the previous fiscal year. Do you think the uptick is sustainable?

The biggest advantage of the Covid pandemic is the use of technology and the adoption of technology. The demand for technology-driven products has gone up multi-fold. This pandemic has changed what employers have planned for. What we are witnessing is that companies have emerged with new priorities and objectives for their businesses. In Q1 and Q2 of FY21, the IT industry was not hiring for new roles. For Teamlease, we have acquired many customers in the last seven-eight months. It means clients are hiring. The other phenomenon is the backfilling of positions by the companies because some employees had left their jobs as they moved back home. Going ahead, we believe that the requirements will increase and hiring will become normal. By January-February, we should come back to the normal level of hiring in the IT sector.

Will the hiring during the January-March period be at a similar level of Q4 of FY20?

Yes, we think so. That is because the IT sector revenues have not dipped so much. Obviously, as business growth has not changed, hiring has also not changed. This is not only limited to big IT services firms. A lot of technology startups have continued hiring. As everyone is realising that the adoption of technology is extremely important for businesses, the demand for human resources continues. Whether it is the healthcare, education or the engineering sector, automation and digitisation have been taken up on priority now. Newer companies have come up, new job roles have been added and even skillset requirements have also been different as compared to the pre-Covid period. Everything has now gone to the cloud. So, a lot of cybersecurity, cloud security, data security, and cloud-related skills are in demand now.

What about the demand for engineers with skillsets in emerging technologies?

Demand for engineers with new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT) and big data have always been there. The demand for these skillsets is at par at last year's level. Even there is less supply of these kinds of engineers. So, people should equip themselves with such skillsets for getting better opportunities.

How is the upskilling programme of IT firms progressing during the Covid period?

The upskilling programme has gathered pace during the Covid period. With work from home, staffers are taking up various programmes for upskilling themselves. Even companies are spending more on this segment due to higher cost savings from less travel and other utility costs. So, virtual training programmes have gone up for upskilling people.

GICs (global inhouse centres) of global companies have emerged as one of the major employers of Indian engineers in recent years. Has that been impacted due to the pandemic, given that a bit of consolidation is happening in this space?

Consolidation will happen (in the GIC space) because that is happening across industries. Whether you talk about retail or finance or technology, it is happening everywhere. Of course, there is a little dip in GICs' Indian hiring and the way these companies are hiring now. But, it is expected to come back to normal next year.

Fresher hiring has seen a dip due to the non-completion of final exams in the engineering colleges. What is your outlook on this aspect? Also, will companies go to the campuses next year?

IT firms will continue to go to the campuses of engineering colleges. However, fresh graduates with newer skillsets like RPA (robotic process automation), data engineering, AI and ML, will be in demand. Otherwise, companies may not hire them. So, it is advisable that new graduates should train themselves in the newer skillsets till they actually join their employers. As far as onboarding of freshers is concerned, IT firms were on a 'wait-and-watch' mode during the first six months of the pandemic. However, perspectives have now changed. So, IT firms have started onboarding the freshers to whom they have earlier given offer letters. I don't think IT firms will go back on their offer commitments and every company is honouring their offers.

Do you think salary hikes and bonuses will see a comeback next year?

Yes. I think salary hikes and bonuses will be rolled out from next year. There is no reason why it will not happen. The IT firms have got a lot of cost savings from the travel ban, visa-related expenditure among others. Secondly, a lot of IT companies, may not be as much in India, have vacated their offices. So, the fixed cost has come down for these firms. In India, we expect Tier-I companies to roll out salary hikes early next year with technology startups doing it later.

How is the bench strength (number of reserved employees) now? Has there been any reduction in the number of reserved employees of late?

What we have gathered is, initially those people who were not adding value were asked to leave. Having said that, even IT companies have held back people who were not working on the project but have the adequate skillset for the future. People are put on the bench for two reasons. Firstly, whether a project is awaited or people are being upskilled to be deployed in a project. So, wherever projects are delayed or awaited, people are put on the bench. It all depends on which are the end customers of the IT firms. If the end-customer is an airline, projects might have been delayed. But, if the end-user is an ecommerce firm, there is no question of any delay. Rather, the demand is more.