The second half of fiscal 2010 may usher in cheer for job seekers, as the recruitment industry predicts a relatively significant surge in jobs during the period, compared to the first half. ?As against the March-September period, when hardly any hiring took place, the October-April period may see surge of 25 to 50% in hiring across sectors,? said Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO Headhunters. ?People-centric industries such as software, BPO, retail, infrastructure and financial services, will hire people in the next six months,? he added.
Software companies, especially tier-II players who had stalled recruitments, have begun lateral hiring. However, mass techie hiring will take more time to stage a comeback, Lakshmikanth said. ?Even as it picks up, techie hiring in the October-March period of 2010 will only see 50% of what the hiring amounted to in the corresponding period of 2007. The current hirings are only for replacement positions,? he said.
?The indications we have from our clients say that October-December FY 2010 will see a gross hiring of nearly 70,000 people across various positions in the IT sector. This number stood at around 40,000 in the past quarter,? he told FE.
In 2007 and early 2008, the percentage of those who secured jobs was between 80% and 100%. In the second half of 2008 and towards early 2009, this percentage dropped to 10%-20%, while in the latter half of the fiscal 2010, this percentage will again rise to 40%-50%.
Favoured by the continuing demand for offshore services, IT majors like Infosys Technologies and TCS have hinted at a recovery being in sight for the sector. Infosys recently revised its hiring targets to 20,000 from its earlier target of 18,000 for FY 2010. In its latest report on employment outlook in Indian cities, staffing company Teamlease said that there is a ?cautious optimism? among Indian players and this will translate into ?improved hiring in the next six months?.
However, IT hiring for H2 FY 2010 will be more confined to niche spaces, such as business development, thought leadership positions and pricing and strategy-related positions, according to BS Murthy, chief executive Human capital. Earlier, such profiles contributed to merely 2% of the broad-based hiring that took place during the boom period.
?The Indian IT space continues to recuperate. I expect some revival in hiring only by the first quarter of 2010,? Murthy said. Sabyasachi Satpathy, partner, Tholons said the improvement in hiring in the October-December quarter is not likely to be substantial. ?Companies will continue to follow a policy of optimum utilisation and real-time hiring,? he said.