IT firms and start-ups are headhunting for a new breed of people on campuses – designers and artists.
Traditionally, companies relied on marketing agencies and external sources for design work, but now they want to have their own in-house teams.
Industry analysts say that in the last three years more than 1,000 designers have been hired by IT firms and start-ups from various campuses in Tamil Nadu. These firms are offering a monthly salary of anywhere between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 50,000 (depending on the college) for a fresher.
Nasdaq-listed IT firm Cognizant, hires from more than 70 T-schools, B-schools and graduate design schools across India.
In Tamil Nadu, the firm hires those specialising in fine arts and visual arts from Government College of Fine Arts (Chennai), Karunya University (Coimbatore), and D J Academy of Design (Coimbatore).
“At Cognizant, design students are offered roles in the areas of interaction design and creative design,” said Mr Vaithilingam Sairaj, vice president, Digital Engagement Practice at Cognizant. Cognizant has hired more than 400 professionals in the past four years. In 2015, they hired 135, nearly twice the number hired in 2012.
At Wipro Limited, people with design skills are being brought on board for digital projects that involve usability design. These employees develop the creative front-end design of portals, apps etc.
It’s not just Cognizant and Wipro, IT firms including Infosys, TCS and HCL are also picking up designers from Tamil Nadu.
Start-ups are also rushing to grab their share now. Almost every start-up in the State has an in-house designer now.
They want designers to create innovative e-commerce platforms, web designing, designing appealing apps and to help them with digital presence in a creative manner.
Vijaybabu Gandhi, co-founder of Flintobox, a start-up based out of the State, which caters to kids, said, “You might have any number of wonderful thoughts and ideas in your mind. But if it’s not presented in a visually convincing manner, it is as good as a company not having any idea.”
“Especially in this digital age when the attention span of targeted audiences is less, simple visual communication is absolutely essential. That edge is given by these designers,” he said.
Emerging destination
According to a report titled, MARTECH Transforming Market through Technology by Nasscom, India is considered the key hub for business process management. However, for design work, the country is considered to be an emerging destination.
