Beyond Layoff

Answer to a recent question from an online forum Here is an image that perhaps summarizes the Indian IT Industry All of us have a viewpoint on what’s ailing the IT industry ( link ) Large software service companies employ nearly 200,000 people each. The rate of voluntary attrition is at historically low percentages. Assuming some sort of a bell-curve grading continues, and companies expect 5-10% of the bottom-rung people to ‘voluntarily’ leave, we are still looking at 10-20,000 people (each) leaving. The global software services market has slowed down. Most of the large software-service firms are projecting slower yearly growth. Thanks to Trump’s Executive actions, Indian firms are promising to hire tens of thousands of American workers. One could include other factors like increased automation and productivity gains that are being touted by IT leaders. Factor in the slowdown in American work-visa (H1) issuance, protectionism in Australia, England and elsewhere that less...

There is a is a recent article from NDTV   titled "Reskill Yourself, Hiring Specialist's Message To Mid-Level Indian Techies" The advice seems logical, and timely. As a matter of fact, most 'management gurus' and IT leaders are are parroting  the Reskill Reskill Reskill  mantra However, What to reskill on and How to go about it is unclear, perhaps even to the 'Gurus' Read rest of the article: Mid-level positions in India's IT sector are most at risk as the industry grapples with changes in the technological landscape and stringent visa regimes in many overseas markets, according to a top executive of staffing firm TeamLease. There have also been reports of layoffs by many IT companies, even though the industry has denied the allegations. "The nearly 1.4 million mid-rung employees, who typically have 8-12 years of experience, are now at the centre of reskill and restructuring conversations happening across the sector," says Alka Dh...

Infosys during a recent  AGM  announced it was  "releasing 11,000 jobs due to automation" In its recently held 36th annual general meeting in Bangalore, Infosys announced that more than 11,000 jobs had been released due to automation. Revenue per full-time employee (FTE) increased by 1.2 per cent as a result of automation, utilization and productivity improvements, the company said. Having said that the company blamed the media for creating unnecessary hype over the matter. Some shareholders of Infosys asked the board to consider the 'social impact' of layoffs and its social responsibility towards job creation too.  The Washington Post has a similar story on Layoffs in Indian IT.  The high-tech jobs that created India’s gilded generation are disappearing When P.R. Sujoy became a software engineer, he thought his life was made. It was a job his father, a former government employee who prized stability above all, could brag about to nosy relativ...