Niche skillsets insulating India from global layoffs

Bengaluru: Hiring sentiment in Indian IT industry is likely to improve from April onwards despite mass layoffs by global technology giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta among others in recent months.

Currently, domestic IT services companies are hiring on a need-basis though no reduction in headcount through mass layoffs have been undertaken. Experts pointed out that labour market in India remained relatively stable as compared to the US where global product firms had added more number of staffers in anticipation of sustained demand coming from the Covid pandemic.

"These layoffs are not hitting Indian subcontinent that high. Not even 5-10 per cent of employees working out of India of these global tech firms are affected. Currently, Indian IT firms are not hiring that much and in a wait and watch mode. However, hiring for specific skillsets and backfilling are going on," Supaul Chanda, Global Business Head of talent engineering firm Otomeyt told Bizz Buzz.

"Traditionally, January to March is considered weak period for hiring. So, it will improve from April onwards," he added.

According to sources in the know, those global tech firms, which have announced mass layoffs, are also hiring in India for specific skillsets like cloud engineers, full stack developers and many more such roles with niche skillsets.

While around 200,000 engineers had lost jobs in the US so far, India with its huge engineering talent base has not seen such mass layoffs. Most Indian IT firms have halted addition of new employees but have not resorted to firing.

India's top four IT companies- Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, and HCLTech-added 1,940 employees on a net basis in the third quarter of FY23, which was down 93 per cent from the previous quarter. During the second quarter of current financial year, the net addition had fallen 45 per cent to 28,836 employees from the first quarter, when 52,842 employees were recruited.

"Currently, the standard for hiring and retention are getting raised. We have seen some companies letting go off freshers due to such raised standards. This is likely to continue, but layoffs on a larger scale seem unlikely among Indian IT players as any slowdown will lead to more outsourcing work coming to India," said a source familiar with the development.

Experts also opined that domestic IT firms may be able to hire good talent from those affected Indian engineers in the US. Reports suggest that around 80,000 engineers from India had lost their jobs amid the current firing spree. Many may have to return to the home country as the extant H1B and L1 visa rules mandate to get another employment in 60 days of losing the job.

"We are keeping our ears and eyes open (about hiring good talent from the US). India will see better talent availability in coming months," Chand of Otomeyt said.