Tech firms may hike pay by 120% to hire, retain niche talent

People in high demand include full-stack engineers, data scientists, data engineers and backend engineers, according to recruitment consultancy firm Xpheno.

“The war of wages put the negotiating power back into the candidate’s hands. Talent with niche digital skill sets in demand across enterprises saw a sharp rise in valuation and resultant remuneration changes,” said Kamal Karanth, cofounder of Xpheno.

This demand is likely to persist into 2022, till enterprises create an organic talent pool and upskill workers, which would typically take six-eight quarters, he added.

“The demand for digital talent will remain for sure, as more GCCs (Global Capability Centres) are lined up to set shop, more startups are getting funded, and IT services companies are winning more deals. The demand pipeline for digital talent is healthy and seen enlarging as we step into 2022 and kickstart the closing quarter for the current fiscal year,” he said.

Startups that have raised funds over the last few months are expected to roll out the highest offers and counter offers, ranging from 50-120% depending on the role.

IT services companies and GCCs, on the other hand, are likely to unveil relatively modest offers in the range of 5-14% for the same skills.

While demand for these skills will remain high, other niche skills are likely to gain in popularity over the course of the next year.

ETtech

Increased investments in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, security, and engineering will be among the top technology drivers for 2022, said Vijay Sivaram, CEO of Quess IT Staffing.

“Large digital transformation deals, hybrid cloud adoption, automation of front-end and back-end systems, and investments in tech-enabled assets will continue to underpin the business performances and manpower hiring sprees,” Sivaram said.

New technology trends in 2022 such as Metaverse, data fabric, cybersecurity mesh, privacy-enhancing computation, cloud-native platforms, and hyper-automation will also drive talent demand, he added.

The Digital Employment Outlook Report from TeamLease Digital has identified a set of skills that will be in demand in the Indian IT-BPM industry next year.

“It is mostly digital skills that will be in demand, as spending on digital has increased over the (Covid-19) pandemic,” said Siva Prasad Nanduri, VP and business head at IT staffing firm TeamLease Digital.

“This isn’t restricted to any one industry or sector, and demand is across organisations, barring small and medium enterprises,” he added.

Xpheno’s Karanth said wages in India have traditionally been below par at the entry level and some correction in the short term is inevitable. However, over the next few quarters at least, enterprises have no choice by to indulge in a wage war.

There is also the expectation that over time, priorities will shift from leveraging short term gains to focusing on roles that will help create a long-term career trajectory.

“Organisations will need to focus on a long-term, sustainable strategy to overcome the acute talent crunch. Emphasizing progressive work culture, highlighting exciting career growth opportunities, meeting candidate needs and motivators, and bringing job meaningfulness are some facets of this recruitment effort,” said Sivaram of Quess.