Upsurge in Indian Services Recruitment Despite Automation Impacts

Despite the rising threat of automation, there has been an upsurge in recruitment within India’s IT services and BPO sectors.

During the month of February, recruitment rose 8% in the IT services and software development sector and a staggering 21% in the outsourcing (BPO) sector, according to Indian job board Naukri.com.

The news comes amid growing rumors that technology firm Cognizant is about to lay off thousands of employees in the country. The company will cut at least 6,000 jobs, representing around 2.3% of its total workforce, reported the Times of India, citing an unnamed source.

Cognizant has not confirmed the report, but the news daily highlights that the company is struggling to keep pace with advancing technologies and changing customer demands.

Cognizant is one of the biggest employers in India’s IT sector, with more than 72% of its 260,000 workers based in the South Asian country.

Although many analysts predicted that automation might kill millions of jobs in India’s lucrative IT services and outsourcing sector, no company has announced a large-scale lay off so far.

Moreover, considering the survey by Naukri, hiring activity is in full-swing in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad, where a large majority of IT companies are operating.

What is certain is that many technology and professional service providers are re-skilling their employees in new technologies.

Infosys, for example, is reportedly re-skilling thousands of employees in automation. Most of these workers previously provided application management and infrastructure management services.

Wipro is also involved, reportedly aiming to train nearly 5,000 employees in automation technologies by the middle of this year.

Richard Lobo, executive vice-president and head of HR at Infosys, has recently said that it would be wrong to say that automation will kill jobs. “It will kill jobs in some units but will create jobs in some other units,” he said, according to Times.