Ray of hope for Indian techies staring at job losses as Infosys may hire 20,000 people this year

Amid the growing clamour in the Indian IT industry over the techies staring at mass job losses in the face of various challenges to the business, there seems to have come across a good news. Bellwether Indian IT company Infosys plans to hire 20,000 people in India this year, ET Now reported citing a wire report, which in turn cited the company COO.

However, the net hiring could be less than the figure, due to attrition and potential layoffs. Infosys had hired 6,320 employees on a net basis in the last financial year 2016-17, down from 17,000 employees it hired in the year before that.

Indian information technology companies have recently found themselves in tight spot, as is showcased by high number of possible layoffs. The industry is rife with the news reports of top Indian IT companies considering laying off thousands of people to keep themselves afloat.

Infosys itself is learnt to be considering firing unspecified number of people, which it has termed ‘performance-based exits’. “A continued low feedback on performance could lead to certain performance actions, including separation of an individual,” Infosys said in a statement earlier last month, adding, “Performance assessments are done with reference to the goals individuals have on business objectives and other strategic priorities.

Global IT major Cognizant, which had a workforce of around 260,000 including 155,000 employees in India as of last year, has reportedly asked several of its senior employees to accept a severance package of up to nine months of salary and leave on a cordial note. Various reports estimate the company may let go 6,000-10,000 people.

Wipro, India’s third-largest information technology service provider, has already sacked 300-600 employees to “align its workforce with business objectives, strategic priorities of the organisation and requirement of its clients”. Tech Mahindra, another tech giant is also seeking to trim its workforce by laying off about 1,500 employees.

These incidents are emblematic of the quagmire of slowing growth and environmental difficulties that lay ahead of the Indian information technology companies.

On one hand, reducing client spends and pricing pressures are squeezing these companies’ margins and bottom lines. On the other hand, due to increasingly tougher work visa regimes by countries like the US, UK, Singapore and Australia, these companies are finding it even more difficult to carry on with their operations in these countries in a cost-effective manner.

To cope up with the stricter visa norms, Indian IT firms are ramping up local hiring in those countries. Infosys being a case in point, which plans to hire 10,000 Americans in the next two years and open four centres in the US.