IT employees should not expect many job opportunities, says a survey

Indian IT employers across India indicates that IT hiring intentions will remain sluggish for the period April 2017 to September 2017, found the Experis IT Employment Outlook Survey with US Staffing firm ManpowerGroup India. Hiring intentions have declined by 15 percentage points from previous quarter. Only 58% of the Indian IT employers anticipate hiring over the coming 2 quarters.

Although the labour market outlook is positive, IT professionals can expect a moderate growth in job opportunities, it said.  

"Hiring outlook in the Indian IT domain doesn’t look encouraging for the next few months due to various global macro economic factors such as the H1-B executive order and Brexit. IT companies are adopting a wait and watch strategy and taking alternate talent acquisition routes such as hiring temporary IT workers to cover immediate demands,” Manmeet Singh, President, Experis IT– ManpowerGroup India, said.

Moreover, niche and upcoming tech skills will be in demand in the coming quarters. Some organizations have even started up-skilling and re-skilling internal employees to reduce bench and improve productivity.

Automation is likely to have an impact on both cognitive and manual routine tasks so people can take up non-routine chores that are more fulfilling. Skill crunch will be a prime concern and to address this, individuals must adapt skills adjacency, learnability to be employable and future ready. Hiring outlook in the Indian IT industry looks sluggish but it will keep a steady pace albeit slow. 

AG Rao, Group Managing Director of ManpowerGroup India said, “India is at the cusp of a digital transformation. With the advent of automation which is expected to impact majority of companies, employers in India state a sluggish hiring scenario. India’s IT employers are cautious about their hiring plans in the April-September time frame. Today, the business leaders are creatively engaging the right talent to drive business success. Creativity, emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility are skills that will tap human potential. Technology trends are creating a disruption in the business model and the talent also have to keep up with it.

Given that every business will be re-defined by technology, the time is also ripe to unlock new opportunities. There is a growing need for the companies to focus on capacity development to address the digital opportunities," added Rao.