IT industry must skill workforce to hold position globally: Nasscom

Indian IT-BPM industry employs about 37 lakh people

The Indian IT-BPM industry employing about 37 lakh people will have to revise the skills of about 60 to 70 per cent of its current workforce to hold its position in the global software service industry in the throes of technology-led disruption, said Nasscom at a human resource summit in Chennai.

Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said: "Although the Indian industry's share in global off-shoring business is about 56 per cent, a dizzying level of market needs to buck up and sharpen its service offering."

"The margins in the IT business, though, are coming down but companies have not cut spending. However, they have begun demanding more and newer services," added Chandrashekhar.

He further added that the skills in cloud computing, robotics, and artificial intelligence are much-sought-after skills that IT companies require now.

The other set of skills are knowing the in and out of a specific field of work: IT in healthcare or IT in agriculture.

The IT companies will also seriously review hiring fresh graduates from campuses en-masse and go for targeted hiring of graduates, who are experts in certain subjects.

Nasscom believes that there will be a negative impact due to the decision of Britain to exit the EU, chiefly because of the sudden drop in the Pound impacting current contracts and uncertainty over what business opportunities are on offer from a Britain divorced from the EU.