The recession in the US and slowdown in the IT sector has resulted in crowded benches in Indian IT companies. ?Many companies are yet to deploy the batches of 2007 and therefore in this June, companies are likely to defer job offers,? Rishi Das, CEO, CareerNet Consulting said.
?The bench is increasing in most Indian IT companies and they are hoping to utilise it by getting projects in January 2009. However, a large number of US companies are adopting a wait and watch policy before giving out projects to India. If projects don?t come in by January, Indian companies will delay joining of such employees to whom offers were made earlier and would let them leave in five to six months,? he observed.These companies had not budgeted for the delay in projects and the increased bench and so it would impact hiring in 2009, Das said. ?Companies usually plan their recruitment at least 18 months in advance and complete 80% of recruitment by June if they wish to recruit for 2009. But this time around, hiring has not happened at this pace,? he said, predicting a slowdown in campus hiring. There is a definite concern in the market, he said.
For headhunters such as CareerNet Consulting, the challenge is to hire ‘just in time?. ?Companies have been approaching us to keep the candidates ready and just give us 15 days notice. Their expectations are also increasing and now a 65% fit candidate is not longer considered good enough for hiring,? Das said. Das was speaking at the sidelines of a meet organized on ‘Talent Acquisition: Changing Paradigm? at Pune.
Significantly, people are becoming wary of joining start-ups since there are more risks involved in joining these.