IT sector slowly getting back on its feet

The IT sector, which had suffered due to the financial crisis, is slowly getting back on its feet, say experts

The IT sector, which had suffered due to the financial crisis, is slowly getting back on its feet, say experts

A few months ago, getting a job in the IT sector sounded impossible. With almost no company hiring from campuses or elsewhere, due to the economic slowdown, software engineers were facing a tough time. But that seems to be changing.

"The situation in the IT sector is slowly taking an upturn. We are optimistic that hiring will start taking place from January," said Ganesh Natarajan, former chairman of NASSCOM.

More work
Over 2 lakh people work in the nearly 600 IT companies, including Infosys Technologies, Wipro Infotech, and Tata Technologies which are based in Pune. Shekhar Rane (name changed), a software engineer working in an IT company in Hinjewadi, said, "Things are now better in my company. Earlier we used to work in the perpetual fear of being laid off. A lot of us were benched. Fortunately, now we have something to work on."

According to IT industry sources, more than 50 per cent of benched employees are now getting projects to work on. Atul Pradhan, a management consultant with several IT companies, said, "Things are improving, but very slowly. Unlike the situation in 2005 and 2007 when IT companies were making huge investments, now they are cautious. But there is a silver lining because even the government is keen to spend on IT companies."

6-8% growth
Rajeev Vaishnav, vice-president of NASSCOM, said, "In the beginning of 2008-2009, we had predicted that there could be a 20 per cent growth in the IT sector. But after the downturn, we revised it to 14 per cent, which we further downgraded to 4 to 7 per cent growth. But now seeing the improved situation, we hope to witness a growth of 6-8 per cent in the next quarter."

Mahesh Sheka, managing director of Campus Select, a Mumbai-based recruiting firm, said companies' confidence has grown. "We will be coming to Pune to sign an agreement with some educational institutes for recruitment for 2009-2010."

Uma Ganesh, CEO, Global Talent Track, which is working with several universities to groom students' employability, is confident that by the end of the year, IT companies will start hiring people.

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