IT Majors in India Go On a Hiring Spree This Year

The Covid-19 pandemic caused a temporary slowdown in India’s IT sector hiring in 2020, but as we step into 2021, a sharp pickup in demand is being sensed in the IT industry. The big IT firms have now lined up robust hiring plans for 2021-22.

The big four companies, TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Wipro, are reportedly planning to hire 91, 0000 candidates from campuses, which is slightly higher than last year.

According to a recent report by Economic Times, if not for Coronavirus pandemic ravaged the businesses in India, most of the ongoing financial year’s campus hiring would have been concluded by now. Typically, firms would have honored those offers despite some delays.

In a recent interaction with the publication, TCS executive VP and global HR head Milind Lakkad the company is planning to hire the same number of freshers for next year as it did this year. Big IT firms hired nearly 40,000 candidates this year.

On the other hand, Infosys assured that the company plans to hire 24,000 college graduates in India in the next financial year. Reportedly, it is more than the firm has designed for the current one, 15,000.

When India is grappling with several job losses, fresh hiring comes as good news. HCL Technologies chief HR officer Apparao V V has also reasoned why the hiring momentum is picking up now.

Speaking to the publication, he said, “We are doing 33 per cent more than what we had targeted, and we see a fair bit of acceleration in Q3 and Q4. The visa environment, compensation revisions and countries looking inward have put a cap on the talent available in those countries. If customers scale up their engagement, they have to go where the skills are. Last year, 70 per cent of our workforce increase was in India and 30 per cent outside India. This year, it was almost 90 per cent-10 per cent. We see huge ramp-ups in India.”

HCL is also on a hiring spree. The company plans to hire, as many as 15,000 freshers in India and 1,500-2,000 people on-site in the 2022-ending fiscal.

James Friedman of Susquehanna Financial Group (SFG) has also weighed in on-demand in infrastructure-related. “India mindshare seems once again on the rise,” he said.

Besides, Infosys bagged the largest deal ever in its history from German automotive major Daimler. The report claimed that the two companies had signed an agreement worth $3.2 billion (approximately). TCS, on the other hand, bagged a massive deal from Prudential Financial. Wipro has also signed a massive deal with German retailer Metro.

A talent war is expected to unfold in the next few months in the IT sector. Wipro and other big IT firms have now stepped a notch in hiring in the last two quarters. “It is all about demand. The way we have been hiring in the last few months…more demand means more opportunities,” chief HR officer Saurabh Govil said to the publication.

Hansa Iyengar, London-based IT advisory Omdia’s principal analyst, claimed that big enterprises are ramping up their digital agendas and investments as the world looks at a post-pandemic recovery. “Campus recruitment is a good tool to bolster digital portfolios and delivery,” she said.