Small firms struggle to find talent in big IT job crunch
Employees with 7-15 years of experience stare at job losses if they fail to up-skill themselves
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Small IT services firms, facing a shortage of talent for both entry-level and middle management jobs, are finding a lack of new technology skills among applicants from large IT services firms.
At least three companies have experienced this while interviewing for positions at middle levels.
Thousands of employees at IT services companies with 7-15 years of experience stare at job losses if they fail to up-skill themselves in digital technologies.
Bengaluru-based Kreatio Software looked at 200-odd resumes for positions such as quality analysts, project managers and functional analysts with 5-10 years of experience and found many of these people had stopped coding because they were busy attending meetings and managing team members.
“We are a very small but profitable company. We are doubling our manpower. This includes building middle management and leadership capabilities. We do not have enough people, yet our experience during recruitment was such,” said Krishna Kumar, chief executive officer, Kreatio Software.
He added many small IT companies echoed similar sentiments on social media. “Besides, there are people I know who have privately expressed similar views,” he added.
Deltaphi, a Mumbai-based software testing services firm, had a similar experience during recruitment of testing hands.
The majority of the over 2,000 members of Nasscom are small and medium IT services firms.
Industry analysts said there had been a surge in the number of resumes of IT professionals with 7-15 years of experience as many large firms were trimming their workforce that had for long been managing large and long-term projects. With a significant technology disruption and automation, projects for these services players are becoming smaller, reducing the need for people managers.
A recent report by McKinsey India said, “The bigger challenge will be to retrain 50-60 per cent of the workforce as there will be a significant shift in technologies.” It added that unless IT professionals re-trained themselves they could become irrelevant.
Kris Lakshmikanth, chairman and managing director, The Head Hunters India, estimated if jobs of 10,000 people were automated in any of the large IT firms, at least 300 people would have been in managerial roles who were in need of re-skilling to be deployed on projects in digital technology.
At least three companies have experienced this while interviewing for positions at middle levels.
Thousands of employees at IT services companies with 7-15 years of experience stare at job losses if they fail to up-skill themselves in digital technologies.
Bengaluru-based Kreatio Software looked at 200-odd resumes for positions such as quality analysts, project managers and functional analysts with 5-10 years of experience and found many of these people had stopped coding because they were busy attending meetings and managing team members.
“We are a very small but profitable company. We are doubling our manpower. This includes building middle management and leadership capabilities. We do not have enough people, yet our experience during recruitment was such,” said Krishna Kumar, chief executive officer, Kreatio Software.
He added many small IT companies echoed similar sentiments on social media. “Besides, there are people I know who have privately expressed similar views,” he added.
Deltaphi, a Mumbai-based software testing services firm, had a similar experience during recruitment of testing hands.
The majority of the over 2,000 members of Nasscom are small and medium IT services firms.
Industry analysts said there had been a surge in the number of resumes of IT professionals with 7-15 years of experience as many large firms were trimming their workforce that had for long been managing large and long-term projects. With a significant technology disruption and automation, projects for these services players are becoming smaller, reducing the need for people managers.
A recent report by McKinsey India said, “The bigger challenge will be to retrain 50-60 per cent of the workforce as there will be a significant shift in technologies.” It added that unless IT professionals re-trained themselves they could become irrelevant.
Kris Lakshmikanth, chairman and managing director, The Head Hunters India, estimated if jobs of 10,000 people were automated in any of the large IT firms, at least 300 people would have been in managerial roles who were in need of re-skilling to be deployed on projects in digital technology.