IT jobs — promises to keep

BANGALORE: IT jobs are once again on the rise, with software companies getting vociferous about hiring in hundreds and thousands. "It is far better than last year and very healthy," says Kamal Singh of International Management Consultants (IMC). Bangalore- based, four-year-old, IMC is placement agency and caters to majors like MindTree, Ubinetics, Motorola, Wipro, Texas Instruments among others. Rakhi of Naukri.com, a leading online placement agency, expresses a similar feeling. "It is pretty good and has opened up. It is more steady and increasing by the day." The job scene sure looks rosy, but it remains to be seen how many of these promises will be kept.

The rise is attributed to recovery in the economy and the increase in technology spending. But most importantly offshoring is the seen as the primary reason for the increase in job prospects. "There are lot of good opportunities coming up everyday. Lots of offshoring work to India has resulted in the demand for jobs in the IT industry. The cost factor and skills available in India are attracting multinationals directly to set shops in the country," added Rohit of Career Net- an exclusive IT placement company catering to over 80 IT companies in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

"According to a Nasscom report the the number of professionals in India is pegged at six lakh out of which 1.5 lakh are in the BPO the rest are in IT. This year, there are about 18,000 to 25,000 professionals recruited by the top 15 companies in India. Packet skills in ERP and Java skillsets are in huge demand now and is expected to continue, " said TVA Infotech, CEO, Gautam Sinha. A Nasscom-McKinsey report on strategies to achieve the Indian IT industry's aspirations, it will need 1.1million more IT professionals by 2008, yet the supply according to current trends will be just 885,000. So there is a potential shortfall of 235,000 professionals by 2008 if current trends continue. (Including all types of employees, the industry will need to recruit 2.2m employees, says the McKinsey report.). According to a

Gartner report, one out of ten US jobs are being moved to India. Rough estimates point at about 500,000 jobs being moved to India from the US.

In the software services sector, application and network management skills sets are hot and selling. While other skills continue to be in demand, most of them agree that unlike in 1999 and 2000, the requirements are specific and selection criteria have also changed.

"The selection criteria has become more stringent," states Rakhi, while Kamal adds, "Companies are becoming very quality conscious. They are more rigid while selecting the candidates and are very specific in the skill set requirement." Freshers continue to be recruited through campus selection amidst stiff competition, while "the prospects for experienced professionals is very good. Middle Level and Senior Level recruitment among IT companies is on the rise," according to Rohit.

Companies - both MNCs and domestic players are on the hiring spree and are promising the moon and the stars. However, apprehensions about the hiring scene remain. According to an opinion poll conducted by CIOL, 48% of the respondents said that companies have failed to keep their public recruitment announcements and 38% feel that they have met them only partially.

Here are a complete round-up of CIOL reports on recruitment promises made by software companies.