. Earth Science News .
TRADE WARS
Layoffs rile India's flagship IT sector
By Vishal MANVE
Mumbai (AFP) May 31, 2017


Experienced Indian techie Raghu Narayanaswamy lost his job recently and fears he may not get another, as analysts warn of massive layoffs across the country's multi-billion-dollar information technology sector.

IT outsourcing has long been one of India's flagship industries but experts say automation, a failure to keep up with new technologies and US President Donald Trump's clampdown on visas is creating industry-wide upheaval.

India's business dailies have reported that major IT firms are gradually laying off thousands of staff while research has claimed that hundreds of thousands of jobs could disappear in the next four years, although the companies themselves have refused to comment on numbers.

Narayanaswamy was caught up in the turmoil in March when he was let go from one of India's top IT companies after 11 years of service. He says his future prospects appear bleak.

"I have been finding it extremely difficult to find a job these past few months," the 40-year-old, who is based in India's commercial capital Mumbai, told AFP.

India's IT sector boomed for more than two decades as Western companies subcontracted work to firms like Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra, taking advantage of their skilled English-speaking workforce.

The industry employs nearly four million Indians and rakes in revenues of move than $150 billion, according to the trade body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

Although layoffs are not uncommon in the industry, particularly in the final quarter of the financial year, union chiefs say staff are being made redundant in unprecedented numbers this year as firms deal with narrowing profits.

"Companies are unwilling to talk about the layoffs or how many techies have been served notice to leave as part of their annual appraisal," J.S.R. Prasad, chairman of the National Confederation of Unions of IT Employees, told AFP.

- New skills needed -

India's top IT companies have been complaining for a while about the difficulty of picking up new clients as businesses explore automation, robotics and innovative technologies such as cloud computing.

So analysts say it should come as little surprise if some are now streamlining operations.

"These changes pertaining to mass layoffs and downsizing have been due for some time and the current chain of events globally have accelerated them," D.D. Mishra at technology research company Gartner told AFP.

Nasscom this month dismissed widespread reports, including in respected Indian newspapers like The Economic Times, Mint and Business Standard, of thousands of layoffs but conceded that the rate of hiring was slowing.

It predicted that up to three million new IT positions would be added by 2025 but warned that the industry must reinvent itself to help companies keep up with demand for more innovative technologies.

Kris Lakshmikanth, chairman of Bangalore-based recruitment firm The Headhunters, told AFP the task is huge with around 60 percent of India's four million techies needing to be retrained.

Wipro and Tech Mahindra told AFP that they have retraining programmes but refused to comment on the number of layoffs, saying it was standard practice for employees to lose their jobs if they failed to meet expectations.

Infosys failed to respond.

While Nasscom is bullish about the future for India's tech titans, HfS Research, a US-based business advisory firm, estimates automation could mean a 14 percent decline in India's IT workforce with 480,000 jobs at risk by 2021.

That's a worrying prospect for the hundreds of thousands of aspiring engineers at India's IT colleges.

Analysts are already pessimistic about the potential effect of Trump's curbs on H-1B visas, which India's IT sector uses to send thousands of highly skilled engineers to America every year.

"There is a big tsunami that will affect between 150,000 and 200,000 Indian IT professionals and will continue for a long time until the industry stabilises," Lakshmikanth said of the challenges facing the sector.

vm/pdh/mb/amu

MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA

WIPRO

Infosys

TRADE WARS
Moody's cuts China's rating on debt fears
Beijing (AFP) May 24, 2017
Moody's on Wednesday slashed China's credit rating for the first time in almost three decades citing concerns about the country's rising debt and slowing growth, but Beijing rejected the downgrade as "inappropriate". The move comes as China tries to clean up a toxic brew of unregulated and risky lending that for years has fuelled the economy's spectacular growth, though some analysts doubt B ... read more

Related Links
Global Trade News


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

TRADE WARS
Nuclear spent fuel fire could force millions of people to relocate

Disaster risk management: Science helps save lives

Targeted conservation could protect more of Earth's biodiversity

UN braces for up to 200,000 Iraqis to flee Mosul

TRADE WARS
New method allows real-time monitoring of irradiated materials

Neutron lifetime measurements take new shape for in situ detection

Solving the riddle of the snow globe

Bamboo inspires optimal design for lightness and toughness

TRADE WARS
Historical rainfall levels are significant in carbon emissions from soil

Squeezing every drop of fresh water from waste brine

China's 'toilet revolution' targets dirty lavatories

Sea level as a metronome of Earth's history

TRADE WARS
Methane seeping from Arctic seabed may have an upside

NASA's Arctic Ecosystem Science Flights Begin

Elevation could help explain why Antarctica is warming slower than Arctic

China says no mining planned in Antarctica

TRADE WARS
In China, maggots finish plates, and food waste

Bordeaux pins hopes for ravaged vineyards on June bloom

Bordeaux pins hopes for ravaged vineyards on June bloom

Helping plants pump iron

TRADE WARS
Sri Lanka deploys thousands of troops as flood toll climbs to 169

Sri Lanka deploys more troops as flood toll climbs to 180

Study explains severity of 9.2 magnitude Sumatra earthquake

Expect above-average Atlantic hurricane season, US forecasters say

TRADE WARS
Biafra's military veterans: no regrets, 50 years on

Rwanda to control presidential candidates' social media use

Africa, so close yet so far from G7 summit

Nigeria seizes illegal arms shipment

TRADE WARS
Researchers Identify Conductor of Brain's Neural Orchestra and Begin to Decode the Score

New hypothesis about the origin of humankind suggests oldest hominin lived in Europe

Portions of human skeletal structure were established millions of years earlier than previously thought,

Study reveals architecture of the 'second brain,' the enteric nervous system









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.