The Hindu : Manpower shortfall in IT sector worries experts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 19, 2003

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Business

Manpower shortfall in IT sector worries experts

NEW DELHI APRIL 18 . The information technology sector may be doing wonders in terms of employment generation in India but industry experts are more worried about bridging the estimated shortfall of over two lakh personnel by 2008.

According to a recent survey carried out by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the demand for software professionals is expected to be approximately 1.1 million people by 2008.

However, the supply of software professionals, based on current trends, is projected to be only 8.85 lakhs, creating a potential shortfall of 2.35 lakh people.

"While the Indian talent pool is extremely large with 76 per cent of all the software professionals possessing a graduate degree, there are still some gaps in their training, which would be the main contributor to the projected shortfall,'' says Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom.

Pointing out that 1.67 lakh engineering students and 1.54 million graduates pass out of India's educational institutions annually and are available for the Indian software and services industry, he says this talent pool lacks the preparedness for the industry.

"One of the primary reasons for the shortfall is the training gap that still exists in the education that is imparted to the software professionals,'' he says.

But Mr. Karnik is quick to point out that the shortfall is based on the current trends and with increased initiatives from the Government and private sectors, the lacunae can be addressed.

"It is true,'' admits Pradeep Gupta, Director Cybermedia. "A number of past surveys since the 1980s have talked about shortfall of manpower. Yet the industry continues to grow,'' he adds.

Mr. Gupta says the immigration of IT professionals outside the country also plays a major role in creating this shortfall but quickly adds that it is "minimal.'' "Yes, immigration does make a difference. But I would suspect that more than 10 per cent of the fresh output goes abroad and 90 per cent remains available,'' he says, adding there is no reason why the gap cannot be bridged.

As a first step towards bridging this gap, training institutions can introduce one or two software related courses across disciplines and impart necessary practical training to enhance their preparedness to work in the IT industry.

Calling for concrete action to plug gaps in education and a greater cooperation between private and public sectors to offer intensive training on specific skills required by the sector, Mr. Karnik says this was particularly important in IT enabled services (ITES), which is the biggest job providing sector in the country at present.

The Nasscom President points out that the skilled profile required by the IT sector is different from that of ITES industry professionals, which required linguistic skills and the appropriate domain and functional expertise.

"The Government can play an important role in this regard by ensuring that their is an adequate number of English speaking graduates in the country,'' he says, adding it can also help provide essential training in the domain and functional areas, particularly by supporting the private sector's role in globalising the curriculum across some key disciplines.

Focusing on the education scenario, Mr. Karnik says it was essential to step up the industry-academia interaction by giving considerable weightage to company projects in course curriculum.

"This will not only provide the necessary on the job experience to students but would also help in a big way in bridging the gap between the knowledge available and the expertise required,'' he states.

There are a few basic issues that need to be addressed at the earliest and if they are executed correctly, they will go a long way in addressing the projected manpower shortfall, he says. — PTI

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