With a record lowest intake of fresh engineers in over twenty years, India’s renowned software export sector is expected to conclude the current fiscal year with hiring between 70,000 to 80,000 graduates.
Forecasting a Steep Decline Amidst Global Demand Shifts
This decline reflects the industry’s struggle amidst reduced global demand for technology services post-pandemic.
Additionally, it has been predicted that less than 10% of the 1.5 million engineers graduating this summer will secure job placements.
This stark drop in the hiring number is worrisome, especially given the fact that the sector hired a record 600,000 freshers in the sector’s peak in fiscal 2022, which was mainly driven by the technology services boom.
Later in 2023 when the demand for digitization waned due to receding COVID-19 effects and geopolitical tensions, Indian IT firms reduced fresher hiring to around 250,000, which also marked a downturn in recruitment.
Citing the extended challenges in talent consumption and stagnant demand, Anil Ethanur from Xpheno noted, “We are anticipating another year of minimal freshers and entry-level hiring in India”.
By this fiscal year’s end, Xpheno estimates a 60-65% decline in fresher hiring.
For the 2nd consecutive year, IT Majors like Infosys and Wipro are expected to skip campus placements. On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans reduced fresher intake and recalibrated lateral hiring. This move aligns with their strategy to monitor demand dynamics closely.
With fewer IT giants participating, the impact on the campus placements is very evident.
Samuel Rajkumar V from Vellore Institute of Technology highlighted that there have been decline in offers from companies like TCS and Cognizant, projecting a significant reduction compared to previous years.
Hiring Amidst Pandemic Recovery and Future Prospects
During the initial pandemic period, the hiring was still facing similar downturn wherein only 85,000 entry-level employees are hired in 2020-2021. Also, there were less than 50,000 net additions in the subsequent year.
As per the analysts, there shall be a further 40-60% decline in overall fresher intake for fiscal 2023-2024, particularly affecting tier 2 colleges heavily reliant on IT placements.
Despite this, prosperity is around the corner since the analysts are also cautiously optimistic about a potential turnaround in the IT industry’s fortunes by fiscal 2025, riding on the back of increase in hiring intent and strategic shifts towards remote work and AI-driven reskilling programs.
