Asia Insights with Gaurav Seth in India

The mood in the Indian IT industry, however, is upbeat and in line with the Diwali cheer. And so it should be – there is a strong deal pipeline with robust margins, fueled both by the surge in demand for digital transformation and the acceleration of outsourcing IT work to India.

"67% of CEO’s polled in a recent NASSCOM (Indian IT Industry Body) survey expect India’s Technology sector to grow significantly higher in 2021 compared to 2020."

Work From Home is the other tectonic shift we have seen. As a result, IT companies in India are adopting innovative ways of attracting and supporting their workforce. As an example, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of India’s leading IT giants, recently announced that it will follow a 25/25 model - only 25% of its workforce will operate from the workplace by 2025.

Inevitably, this war for talent is resulting in upward spiraling wages.

Programmers are now waving multiple offer letters at their employers and demanding a higher salary. It begs the question of whether we are killing the golden goose. The very reason that India became the world’s Technology hub is because of labor cost arbitrage with USA and Europe. The only way that India can now maintain its global IT leadership is through constant value add to its client businesses. As a corollary, the workforce needs to be upskilled and adept in emerging technologies like AI, IOT, Cloud and Data & Analytics.

Over the last year, the demand for leadership hiring in the Indian IT Industry has gone up too.

Mentorship skills have become coveted with the imperative to motivate and retain the workforce. As a result, your friendly executive search consultant at Odgers Berndtson has been burning the midnight oil. The lines between work and family have blurred completely. Growth comes with its challenges, but you will agree that these are good problems to have!