Skilled manpower to remain key issue for IT

Dun & Bradstreet study predicts wage inflation of 10-20%.

The availability of skilled human resource will remain a key concern of the Indian IT industry even as the size of the Indian IT industry (including hardware) is expected to touch $90 billion by 2010.

According to a report by global business information provider Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), the size of the Indian IT industry is presently estimated at $47.8 billion.

The report released on the occasion of the launch of the inaugural edition of 'India's Top IT Companies 2007' by D&B says that since most Indian IT firms spend around 35-45 per cent of their revenue on employees, this is one of the most important factors affecting their operating margin.

Demand and supply gap, high attrition rate and increasing presence of global firms in the domestic market are some of the factors that impact a firms' HR cost. The report says that growing orders coupled with the increasing activities of global firms will accelerate the demand for skilled manpower and retention of employees.

"Under these circumstances, managing the employee cost will remain a key challenge for Indian IT industry. It is believed that Indian IT firms will continue to face an average wage inflation of 10-20 per cent annually at various levels," the report which is based on a survey among the majors IT firms say.

The first edition of the 'India's Top IT Companies 2007' has profiled 182 Indian IT firms based on various parametres including total income, service offered, verticals serviced, location and employee strength.

TCS tops the list on the basis of their annual revenue of Rs 11,282.8 crore, followed by Wipro Limited with Rs 10,379.5 crore and Infosys Technologies with Rs 9,521 crore. On the basis of manpower, TCS, Wipro and Infosys are the top three in the list with 62,832, 53,700 and 52,715 employees respectively.

Manoj Vaish, president and CEO (India), Dun & Bradstreet said, "At a time when India is consolidating its position as the preferred IT services destination, the publication will be valuable for organisations that are considering working with Indian companies. This will also serve as a platform for the Indian IT industry to reach out to potential clients."

The contribution of IT industry to India's GDP has grown from 1.2 per cent in 1999-2000 to about 4.8 per cent in FY06. This is estimated to cross 5 per cent in FY07, he added.