IT boom is back again in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: In recent times, the information technology (IT) sector is witnessing a boom once again with strong growth. There is an increased demand for skilled tech professionals across the country, and Hyderabad is no exception. After the first and second waves of Covid-19, the rise in hiring was considered as a pent up demand for talent. But, this is likely to continue for more years.

The demand for skilled talent is so high that the IT companies have started hiring freshers in huge numbers and training them. Post pandemic, IT majors like TCS, Wipro and Cognizant have hired more than one lakh freshers across the country during the first half of this financial year. Among them, almost 20 per cent are from Hyderabad region as per the industry experts.

The Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (Hysea) anticipates that the hiring numbers will go higher during the next fiscal. Its President Bharani K Aroll said, "A phenomenal growth is seen in the IT sector this year. We have observed a similar boom a decade ago. As the companies are handling many digital transformation projects, this trend will go on till December 2022."

Expressing similar views, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Hyderabad Director CVD Ramprasad said: "The IT companies associated with the STPI in Hyderabad have recorded 13 per cent growth in IT exports at Rs 45,000 crore in the first two quarters of this financial year. The growth in the last two quarters of this fiscal will be usually higher."

Overall IT exports from Telangana have been higher than the estimated national average. The State has registered around 15 per cent growth in IT exports at Rs 1.45 lakh crore in FY 2020-21 against Rs 1.28 lakh crore in the same period previous year. The IT exports from the State are expected to surpass the national average again in the next financial year also. While launching the new ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Policy for the period 2021-26, Telangana government has set a target to double the overall IT exports to Rs 3 lakh crore in the next five years. The State also proposed to create more than 3 lakh additional jobs in the coming five-year period.

According to the industry reports, the IT companies and tech startups are on a hiring spree amid rising demand for people with technical skills. The growing number of digitally skilled workforce led to high attrition in the IT sector. The monthly attrition rate is at 20 per cent in Hyderabad alone.

"The recruitment in Hyderabad-based IT firms may witness 9-10 per cent growth during this fiscal due to high attrition. Hiring in the IT sector has increased 7.9 per cent with 46,489 jobs offered during 2020-21 when compared to a year-ago period. Almost 25 per cent of these jobs were offered to freshers from two Telugu States," said Kiran Cherukuri, Vice-President, Hysea.

There is a huge intake of experienced and fresh candidates in segments such as cloud technology, data analytics, artificial intelligence/ machine learning, e-commerce and cyber security. The sky is the limit for laterals having relevant skills in these particular domains while the freshers are offered an average salary of Rs 3 lakh per annum.

Gartner, in its latest forecast, predicted that Indian Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are likely to increase their spending towards projects that drive innovation and modernising legacy systems. "Hiring a workforce that can deliver on these needs will also be a key priority. The IT spending in the country may increase by 7 per cent to $101.8 billion in 2022," it said.