Indian IT may see one lakh job cuts by Sept

BANGALORE, INDIA: Is the light at the end of the tunnel turning out to be a mirage? There seems to be no immediate escape from the dark tunnels of global economic turmoil, and more and more people are going to be washed away by the financial tsunami.

According to a PTI report, the Indian IT sector may see up to five per cent layoffs in the next six months, amounting to more than one lakh job cuts, as companies focus more on cost-cutting due to persisting weakness in global demand.

"We expect the knowledge industry (IT) to see 3-5 per cent non-voluntary exits in the first two quarters of the financial year mainly in senior and middle levels," the report quoted audit, consulting, financial advisory and risk management firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's senior director (Management Consultancy Services) P. Thiruvengadam as saying.

According to the NASSCOM estimates, 22 lakh people were working in the Indian IT-BPO sector in till February. Given the fact that more than 22 lakh people work in the IT industry, five per cent non-voluntary exits would mean more than one lakh employees being shown the door by September, said the report.

The experts believe in adopting a wait-and-watch policy and a mature outlook as a best strategy in this environment Recently, various companies including the IT majors such as Wipro, HCL etc had frozen the campus recruitment process and salary hikes for this year.

Further, as per government data, over one lakh people have already lost jobs in the export sector due to the global downturn.