IT biggies on hiring spree; one lakh people to join workforce

Coming after a forgettable year of hiring freeze, layoffs and salary cuts, the recruitment drive in the IT space is led by biggies such as Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.
An analysis of the hiring plans announced by various Indian IT companies shows that headcount in the industry is expected to go up by more than 98,000.

According to analysts, increased spending on IT infrastructure and improving overseas markets for outsourcers, are among the main factors for the upbeat hiring prospects.
Diptarup Chakraborti, who is a Principal Research Analyst at global IT research firm Gartner said the industry is back on track with many projects lined up for completion.
"The industry has turned the corner and renewed optimism will bring back recruitment across the globe," he noted.

Last week, the country's largest software exporter TCS said it would increase headcount by 30,000 in next fiscal year while Infosys announced plans to hire 16,000 people this year.

Of the 12 companies which have announced their hiring plans, BPO giant Genpact said it would hire 10,000 people. Besides, IBM is looking at recruiting 5,000 followed by Infosys BPO (2,000), Accenture (8,000) and Mphasis (2,000).

Going by Gartner estimates, the domestic IT market is expected to grow by 19-20 per cent in 2010, a sharp rise against a 2.6 per cent growth in 2009.
"IT companies usually hire to meet their next 18-month requirement. The actual hiring is always higher than the announced hiring as the companies also do lateral hiring besides fresh recruitments," Chakraborti said.

An official at Info Edge, which owns the job portal Naukri.com, said the big bang hiring announcements by the IT companies took off in late 2009.

"As economy started improving the IT infrastructure contracts started moving to India. The jobs in IT industry is gaining pace but for us to have a booming 2008 job market will take some (more) time," Info Edge National Head (Marketing and Communications) Sumeet Singh said.

According to Gartner-EXP Worldwide Survey of global chief information officers (CIOs), the IT budgets are expected to witness marginal increase in global average of 1.3 per cent compared to 2009, which saw the IT budgets declining by 8.1 per cent.
In 2009 the CIOs faced multiple budget cuts, delayed spending and increased demand for services with reduced resources.

This is set to change in 2010, as the economies recover from recession and enterprises transition their strategies from cost-cutting efficiency to value-creating productivity, the survey pointed out.