The non-tech sectors such as automobile, retail and banking will be the saviours of India’s tech talent as the traditional haven IT sector reduces hiring significantly. However, the cohort will not be able to generate the same hiring volume as the tech sector.
Across India and all industry sectors, there are presently a little under 90,000 available positions in the technology sector. Compared to typical active demand volumes, the present active demand volume for IT talent has decreased by over 45 per cent, shows insights from Xpheno.
Demand loss
In addition to the general drop in volume, there has been a notable loss in demand within the core IT sector. The top four Indian IT majors in Q2 collectively saw their employee headcount drop by around 21,000, as uncertainty looms in the sector. Some companies have already noted that they will be skipping campus hiring presently and focus on better utilisation, while they monitor demand in tandem with macro situations.
Human resource analysts note that the hiring activity from the non-tech sectors has provided a significant contribution amidst the slowdown. Prasadh MS, head of workforce research at Xpheno said, “As we talk, only one-third of the active openings for tech are from the IT sector collective. The lion’s share of the demand is spread across a host of non-tech sectors like consulting, telecom, hospitality and tourism, retail, healthcare and wellness, consumer services, and construction and infrastructure.”
Further sectors such as engineering, procurement, and construction(EPC), banking, automobile, EV, and GCCs are actively seeking tech talent due to the rapid digitisation and adoption of new technologies, notes Aditya Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR Services. “They are hiring for roles such as Software Development, Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, and Digital Transformation,” he adds.
The long list of non-tech sectors that tech talent demand is spread across also has a long tail of relatively small and micro-demand sectors like Manufacturing, Oil and Energy, Logistics & Supply Chain, Education, Media & Content, Pharma etc, Xpheno insights find.
However, these sectors primarily seek a limited number of professionals across levels in the organisation. Thus, they can absorb only about 20 per cent of the surplus tech workforce, according to Mishra. HR analysts note that the tech freshers will face challenges in finding jobs and possibly will have to wait till the hiring picks up.
Published on October 26, 2023
