The Tremendous 2021 Churn in India's IT industry

Is the IT Salary Boom the new normal ?

  • Yes. Acche Din.

    Votes: 6 30.0%
  • No. Make hay while the sun shines.

    Votes: 4 20.0%
  • Cant say, will eventually settle for someplace in between.

    Votes: 10 50.0%

  • Total voters
    20

sajobajo

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There is tremendous resource churn in India's IT Industry, not by the means of groundbreaking innovations or stupendous rise in business, but due to a terrible attrition of resources.

Indian IT Employees Offered 100% Salary Hike, Rs 60 Lakh Package For 10 Yrs Experience!

..

While in conversation with ET, Vikram Ahuja, co-founder of Talent500 said, companies are offering as much as 50%-100% hike to top talent, this sudden bump up in payouts will make India less attractive for global players which are drawn here for a cheaper workforce. He further added India continues to remain a preferred destination for global recruiters but the recent increase in pay packages has made many re-evaluate their increased dependence on the region.


As a mid-lower-level career minion in a conservative I T Services company, I am seeing the equation has changed to about 5x the amount in lakhs for the years in experience, a figure simply unthinkable in service terms a couple of years back.
Then there are product cos, which seem to be paying over a crore for Architect level positions. And even that is not landing them any good prospects. The whole thing reminds me of the dot-com boom.

So I put on my CT hat and :
- Is this artificial bubble being created by the startups with access to and tacit approval from unlimited deep chinese capital ? Most of them dont earn a dime in profit but continue to pay top dollar.
- A lot more emphasis is given to funding than actually turning a profit.
- The services/low cost/offshore DC model would eventually become unviable sooner rather than later, and the IT cos leave for more lucrative destinations like East Europe, Mexico/Brazil, Vietnam and Thailand. Heck we already have a DC in both Poland and Thailand. Look at what happened to the call centers after the boom.
- The chinese, having accomplished what they want, simply pull the rug from under the so-called startup environment, leaving them high and dry with a lot of mouths but no food to feed them.


While I am happy that my friends are getting 50-70L offers from about 20L just a year back, I am just not sure if this is sustainable. The hiring standards also seem to have been lowered quite a bit around here. Now I am not in any way a top dog , but even to my bottom of the barrel standards most guys we just hired simply wouldnt have a chance if times were any different.

I would like to hear what the esteemed forumer's think of this.
 

notaname

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While I am happy that my friends are getting 50-70L offers from about 20L just a year back, I am just not sure if this is sustainable. The hiring standards also seem to have been lowered quite a bit around here. Now I am not in any way a top dog , but even to my bottom of the barrel standards most guys we just hired simply wouldnt have a chance if times were any different.
Will need to agree with this as from the same industry and the hiring is really happening at fast pace with very good packages (my own friend got 125% hike on his package) but this maybe because of the layoffs they did in the onset of covid and employees searching for better work culture due to Covid and everything a Major share goes to WFH as companies are able to save on other expenses with new projects coming in due to people going in for online mode wherever possible is also contributing to this,

But will not agree fully with the part where the argument is of talent it's not because of lack of it but the pace and medium of Interviews, my team lead ones was taking 15 to 20 interviews daily so you can understand how they will take interview and what will be the response, let the interviews start in person to person this will go back to normal.

But from the looks of it overall seems a bubble to me and the people who are getting high packages will either have salary stay same for years till they come in normal bracket or they will be layed off altogether after this bubble goes down.
 

sajobajo

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Agree with you @ajay7322 saar! I have myself been a part of several such "drives" which would give max 1 hour to the candidate including technical, managerial and HR rounds! :O
Out of the 50 or so candidates I have personally interviewed so far, shortlisted around 3, and none joined. Trouble is we (my co) have already accepted the additional work via contract based on the existing headcount+additions and are struggling to find even backfills. I have spoken to my friends and batchmates, and they too are facing a similar situation. Some are reaping benefits, others are in the wait and watch mode, lest many go belly up and FIFO.
 

Suryavanshi

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Agree with you @ajay7322 saar! I have myself been a part of several such "drives" which would give max 1 hour to the candidate including technical, managerial and HR rounds! :O
Out of the 50 or so candidates I have personally interviewed so far, shortlisted around 3, and none joined. Trouble is we (my co) have already accepted the additional work via contract based on the existing headcount+additions and are struggling to find even backfills. I have spoken to my friends and batchmates, and they too are facing a similar situation. Some are reaping benefits, others are in the wait and watch mode, lest many go belly up and FIFO.
What kind of Job were u recruiting in?
 

Suryavanshi

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Mostly routine IT Service industry stuff, some DB programming, shell scripting etc.
What kind of skills do u look in a fresher, majority kids today just have degree and just know how to write a palindrome no testing program in some programing langauge.

What is the level of programing u guy's look for ?

If Database, does a beginner level knowledge for a fresher qualify?
If web Dev, then does just basic CSS, HTML qualify?
 

sajobajo

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What kind of skills do u look in a fresher, majority kids today just have degree and just know how to write a palindrome no testing program in some programing langauge.

What is the level of programing u guy's look for ?

If Database, does a beginner level knowledge for a fresher qualify?
If web Dev, then does just basic CSS, HTML qualify?
It depends, but most positions are open for those who have a couple of years atleast of application development experience.
In my team atleast we dont hire fresh graduates, but now may have to change, though its not an org policy yet. Without derailing this discussion, if you or someone you know is looking out, DM me :).
 

SKC

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There is tremendous resource churn in India's IT Industry, not by the means of groundbreaking innovations or stupendous rise in business, but due to a terrible attrition of resources.





As a mid-lower-level career minion in a conservative I T Services company, I am seeing the equation has changed to about 5x the amount in lakhs for the years in experience, a figure simply unthinkable in service terms a couple of years back.
Then there are product cos, which seem to be paying over a crore for Architect level positions. And even that is not landing them any good prospects. The whole thing reminds me of the dot-com boom.

So I put on my CT hat and :
- Is this artificial bubble being created by the startups with access to and tacit approval from unlimited deep chinese capital ? Most of them dont earn a dime in profit but continue to pay top dollar.
- A lot more emphasis is given to funding than actually turning a profit.
- The services/low cost/offshore DC model would eventually become unviable sooner rather than later, and the IT cos leave for more lucrative destinations like East Europe, Mexico/Brazil, Vietnam and Thailand. Heck we already have a DC in both Poland and Thailand. Look at what happened to the call centers after the boom.
- The chinese, having accomplished what they want, simply pull the rug from under the so-called startup environment, leaving them high and dry with a lot of mouths but no food to feed them.


While I am happy that my friends are getting 50-70L offers from about 20L just a year back, I am just not sure if this is sustainable. The hiring standards also seem to have been lowered quite a bit around here. Now I am not in any way a top dog , but even to my bottom of the barrel standards most guys we just hired simply wouldnt have a chance if times were any different.

I would like to hear what the esteemed forumer's think of this.
Context my dear Watson, Context!

We hired one resource on 100% hike. However he as in Tier-3 company on package of mere 3.5 lakh after 5 yr of exp. Now he got around 7.1 lacs.
Hiring is on full force because a lot of people did resign from their existing job as they moved to their hometown or finally decided to switch before moving to their hometown to companies which were favorable to their working location.
All Dust will settle down in next 6 months.
But if you guys are working then it is High time to switch. You will get the best hike you can ever think of.
Next year things will come back to normal.
 

sajobajo

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The cheenis are doing their part by :
- Unlimited cash to burn to startups which skew the job market.
- Media blitz stating how India is no longer a viable destination for outsourcing. Spreading FUD.
 

FalconSlayers

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The cheenis are doing their part by :
- Unlimited cash to burn to startups which skew the job market.
- Media blitz stating how India is no longer a viable destination for outsourcing. Spreading FUD.
Do you think India’s IT services industry will stagnate then?
 

FalconSlayers

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Stagnate->Shrink- >Evolve and Specialise (best case)-> Heavy rationalisation of workforce->Shortterm issues
OR > Wither and fade (worst case) -> Heavy rationalistation of workforce->Longterm issues
Kuchh samajh nahi aaya
 

sajobajo

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Kuchh samajh nahi aaya
The weakened/stagnated industry may undergo 2 transformations
Put in tremendous effort and climb up the value chain, products to deploy and products to build applications from. There will be short term pain for the workforce as many will be made redundant, but long term gain would be in the form of more competence.
OR
It will wither and fade away like our erstwhile call center industry if companies take the easy way out. There will be both long term and short term pain for the workforce, with a lot of them left in the limbo with nothing to work for.
 

SKC

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Do you think India’s IT services industry will stagnate then?
Stagnation is not bad.
It will happens once close to 100% utilization of work force is there.
It does not mean it will get destroyed after that.

Japan and Germany are no less economic power but both has reached their max and officially in Stagnation since two decades now but still maintaining to be 3rd and 4th Largest GDP.
 

sajobajo

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It will happens once close to 100% utilization of work force is there.
I doubt we will ever get anywhere close to 100% of our workforce utilization. We are churning out workers (IT workers) by the lakhs everywhere, not possible to absorb all of them year on year.
 

SKC

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I doubt we will ever get anywhere close to 100% of our workforce utilization. We are churning out workers (IT workers) by the lakhs everywhere, not possible to absorb all of them year on year.
Industry input is reducing yr by yr now. More and more kids are going into diverse streams than Engineering now.
But still we will have over lakh engineering pass out each yr for some time.

Also, we wont have stagnation in IT for many decades.
 

Illusive

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For how long due you think it can be sustained. After a sudden spike there is always a dip.

Its not good for inflation either, cost of living goes up and it affects those who dont have that high salaries, which means income inequality.

India needs growth in manufacturing industries, period. Growth needs to happen in lower tier cities.
 

SKC

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For how long due you think it can be sustained. After a sudden spike there is always a dip.

Its not good for inflation either, cost of living goes up and it affects those who dont have that high salaries, which means income inequality.

India needs growth in manufacturing industries, period. Growth needs to happen in lower tier cities.
I don't think there will be any dip but there will be large Plateau.
 

notaname

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Guys in IT sector, why suddenly IT resources have become so scarce and their salaries have sky rocketed ?
One of my friends who runs a very small IT firm is scared that his employees will leave his company for greener pastures. He is not able to take more work because he is unable to find ppl at reasonable salary
Even one of his customers told him that the way salaries are increasing in India ,they might have to outsource their work to countries in Eastern Europe
I don't know about other cities but Hyderabad is witnessing an insane jump in salaries in software and IT sector which is again leading to jump in Real Estate prices.
Here go through this thread maybe we can have more discussion on this topic here.

And about the bold part, the clients and employers gives much less to employees considering what they earn and what work they make IT people do in India if I were to compare I can certainly say from personal experience that if we take US dollars as benchmark for project requirements and every other aspect Indian developers are really unpaid also according to thier knowledge base which is quite good even compared to Western ones with preety huge salaries and there are many aspects to the knowledge base also about experience shown by IT companies to the clients which is quite different from real experience of developers (I will not go into more details of experience part)
 

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