A tech hire hiccup, just take a skill pill

Top software exporters have reportedly reduced fresh hiring in the first quarter of this fiscal to ride out inflationary and geopolitical headwinds. There should be no cause for panic as the technology sector’s fundamentals, performance and competitiveness are strong. Recruitments surged in the seven quarters following the pandemic that spurred the demand for the digitalisation of enterprises and, indeed, governments, leading to the surge in the demand for IT services. Recently, lay-offs in a few tech companies and startups have been reported in the US due to fears of recession. Indian IT firms must have a backup plan, strengthen their competitiveness and continuously upgrade their capacity and capability to absorb and use emerging technologies.

Digital technologies and business models are being constantly reinvented globally. This has meant an inescapable churn in human resources policies. Low-end manpower is getting replaced by digital technologies such as robotic process automation at the back end and others at the front end. Middle management is under increasing pressure to grasp and use digital technologies for the optimal needs of an enterprise. Senior management is expected to respond and deliver under such hypercompetitive market conditions. Companies need to adapt their hiring policies and strategies, nurture and reskill internal talent and motivate people to develop and acquire new skills. There could be a slowdown in the routine expansion of manpower, and, in tandem, consolidation and rewarding of mainstream developers, and operational and project manpower.

A vibrant startup ecosystem has added muscle to innovation. India can increasingly provide sophisticated and demanding IT and IT-enabled services. Digital transformation, centred around the cloud, mobile, analytics, Internet of Things, data management, etc, offer huge opportunities for Indian IT. The sector needs many new skills and new ways of doing things so that companies can shift to higher performance levels, while weathering challenges.