Leading recruiters in India expect a slowdown in tech hiring in the coming quarters owing to global macroeconomic factors like geopolitical uncertainty, an anticipated economic slowdown and recession in many customer geographies.
Commenting on the country's tech hiring outlook, Vidya Sagar Gannamani, Chairman and Managing Director, Adecco India said, the industry feared a slowdown in tech hiring in the coming quarters.
“Owing to global macroeconomic factors like geopolitical uncertainty and expected economic slowdown in many markets, we are expecting a slowdown in tech hiring in India in the coming quarters,’‘ he said.
However, he said this could be balanced by continued growth in the local economy driven by infrastructure push and localisation of various manufacturing industries.
According to B.S. Murthy, CEO, Leadership Capital, a Bengaluru-based CXO recruitment firm, the recession may have already started in the U.S. and high inflation and falling interest rates have only added to receding economic growth in India.
“Tech sector is likely to be adversely affected and we will see lesser hires in the industry compared to the last 3-4 quarters,’‘ Mr. Murthy cautioned.
Sanjay Shetty, director - professional search & selection and strategic accounts, at Randstad India was of the opinion that the situation would be relatively temporary as global economies were expected to bounce back in three to four months.
“The global recession has already begun and started impacting advanced nations as seen by the falling commodities market and volatility in trade across borders. However, we hope it is going to be short and a temporary one,’‘ said Mr. Shetty.
In a contrarian view, Manish Sabharwal, Vice-Chairman, Teamlease Services, said, “I don’t think there will be a global recession. Even if there is one, it is like this that we are all in the same storm, but not on the same boat.’‘
In fact, he said India’s tech employee base was expected to grow from 5 million at present to 10 million in the next seven years.
“Also, H-1B visas will become less important as work from home increasingly becomes work from anywhere and seeds the talent cloud. The biggest beneficiary of the talent cloud is India so I don’t expect any negative impact on tech jobs,’‘ argued Mr. Sabharwal.
