IT sector hiring
outlook: In a positive development, the top IT services companies have witnessed a rise in active hiring for the first time in 20 months. According to analysis of data from LinkedIn and other leading job boards, the number of open positions available for applications increased to 82,000 in March from a low of 50,000 in January this year.
However, despite this increase in active hiring, there has been a 4-6% quarter-on-quarter decline in collective gross hiring by these companies in the quarter ending March, states an ET report.
This analysis was conducted by staffing firm Xpheno based on talent movement patterns in the January-March period, focusing on major companies like
Wipro
,
Infosys
,
TCS
,
HCL
, LTI Mindtree, L&T Technology Services, Tech Mahindra, and Cognizant.
Anil Ethanur, co-founder of Xpheno, highlighted that while gross hiring has been on a declining trend for the past eight quarters, the current surge in active demand indicates a return of hiring for capacity in the IT services sector.
IT companies playing it safe
Looking ahead to FY25, industry experts emphasize the need to focus on bench strength, automation, efficiency improvement, and targeted hiring in specialized areas like AI and GenAI.
Nitin Bhatt, partner and technology sector leader at EY India, said that caution will be exercised by IT services leaders to enhance margins amidst weak overall demand signals.
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Bhatt further added that clients remain hesitant to allocate fresh budgets due to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. The emphasis for hiring will be on niche skills such as cyber, digital, and AI, as tech companies collaborate with end customers to drive cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and productivity enhancement.
The demand for top roles is concentrated in digital and Cloud skills domains, including Cloud Architects, SAP Technical Architects, Kubernetes SMEs, Azure & GCP Specialists, Hadoop Engineers, and Full Stack Engineers.
Rishi Jhunjhunwala, Senior Vice President at IIFL Securities, noted that while there is no significant uptick in demand, FY25 revenue growth expectations may be subdued. However, a slight increase in hiring is anticipated following manpower optimization efforts and a hiring freeze last year.
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Data reveals that major
IT services firms
have collectively reduced their headcount by 75,000 over the past three quarters. This hiring action aims to rebuild lost talent and enhance capacity for the upcoming fiscal year.
Karthik Sridharan, co-founder and CEO of Flexiple, a tech-driven hiring platform, predicts a continued downturn in the IT services hiring market for this fiscal year, citing the slow recovery of the US market.