<p>The Indian IT sector, which is in the midst of a deep slowdown, owing to global macroeconomic headwinds such as inflation and recessionary trends, is expected to see brighter days in the fourth quarter of FY24, sectoral experts who spoke to <em>DH</em> said. They however ruled out a hiring boom matching the one seen in FY22, when the industry added 10 lakh new jobs to the economy.</p>.<p>“FY22 surge was an aberration, a once in a while event,” said Vijay Sivaram, who is the chief executive for IT Staffing at business services provider Quess Corp.</p>.<p>The sector saw unprecedented business following a digitisation push by companies globally during the Covid-19 pandemic as corporate clients across the world adopted a work-from-home model. </p>.<p>However, following the hiring spurt in FY22, the sector saw attrition rates to the tune of 25-30 per cent in FY23 after IT companies found themselves with a lot of flab, as business outlook quickly changed, Nikhil Jaiswal, who is a regional director at staffing firm Michael Page India, explained.</p>.<p>The top five tech companies in India collectively witnessed a drop of 21,856 in their headcount in the April-June quarter compared with the January-March period of this calendar year, according to a report by financial services provider JM financial. </p>.Key infra sector growth rises to 8% in July.<p>This last two months saw some mega deals being struck by tech majors Infosys and HCL Tech, and sustained deal wins by Wipro. However, as far as hiring goes, the outlook for the following two quarters remains moderate at best, say observers.</p>.<p>“The deals are happening on a negative headcount,” said Prasadh M S, who heads workforce research at staffing company Xpheno. While they hire to deliver on these projects, their overall figures would still be catching up on lost talent, he elaborated.</p>.<p>Furthermore, “the October-December period is generally a slow quarter globally because companies revisit budgets and IT spends,” Sivaram pointed out. These deals are spread across years and the revenue pipeline is broken down over milestones accordingly, he added.</p>.<p>The sector clocked 6 lakh net jobs in FY23 and is expected to add 5.5-8.5 lakh by the end of the ongoing fiscal year.</p>.<p>Currently, the IT services and startup segments continue to see a muted hiring trend while global capability centres continue to onboard employees in good numbers. “Product companies are showcasing a wait and watch stance, hiring only for critical and replacement roles,” said Jaiswal.</p>.<p>The non-IT industries within the larger tech umbrella are expected to absorb some of the tech talent, however not in sufficient numbers to bridge the gap.</p>.<p>“The services sector is the largest player in terms of volumes,” reasoned Sivaram.</p>
<p>The Indian IT sector, which is in the midst of a deep slowdown, owing to global macroeconomic headwinds such as inflation and recessionary trends, is expected to see brighter days in the fourth quarter of FY24, sectoral experts who spoke to <em>DH</em> said. They however ruled out a hiring boom matching the one seen in FY22, when the industry added 10 lakh new jobs to the economy.</p>.<p>“FY22 surge was an aberration, a once in a while event,” said Vijay Sivaram, who is the chief executive for IT Staffing at business services provider Quess Corp.</p>.<p>The sector saw unprecedented business following a digitisation push by companies globally during the Covid-19 pandemic as corporate clients across the world adopted a work-from-home model. </p>.<p>However, following the hiring spurt in FY22, the sector saw attrition rates to the tune of 25-30 per cent in FY23 after IT companies found themselves with a lot of flab, as business outlook quickly changed, Nikhil Jaiswal, who is a regional director at staffing firm Michael Page India, explained.</p>.<p>The top five tech companies in India collectively witnessed a drop of 21,856 in their headcount in the April-June quarter compared with the January-March period of this calendar year, according to a report by financial services provider JM financial. </p>.Key infra sector growth rises to 8% in July.<p>This last two months saw some mega deals being struck by tech majors Infosys and HCL Tech, and sustained deal wins by Wipro. However, as far as hiring goes, the outlook for the following two quarters remains moderate at best, say observers.</p>.<p>“The deals are happening on a negative headcount,” said Prasadh M S, who heads workforce research at staffing company Xpheno. While they hire to deliver on these projects, their overall figures would still be catching up on lost talent, he elaborated.</p>.<p>Furthermore, “the October-December period is generally a slow quarter globally because companies revisit budgets and IT spends,” Sivaram pointed out. These deals are spread across years and the revenue pipeline is broken down over milestones accordingly, he added.</p>.<p>The sector clocked 6 lakh net jobs in FY23 and is expected to add 5.5-8.5 lakh by the end of the ongoing fiscal year.</p>.<p>Currently, the IT services and startup segments continue to see a muted hiring trend while global capability centres continue to onboard employees in good numbers. “Product companies are showcasing a wait and watch stance, hiring only for critical and replacement roles,” said Jaiswal.</p>.<p>The non-IT industries within the larger tech umbrella are expected to absorb some of the tech talent, however not in sufficient numbers to bridge the gap.</p>.<p>“The services sector is the largest player in terms of volumes,” reasoned Sivaram.</p>