India – Half of redundant IT workers will be re-skilled and rehired

More than 50% of laid-off IT employees in India will be reskilled and hired back into the labour force, according to data from Indian HR outsourcing services firm CielHR.

The survey polled mid to senior-level professionals from more than 50 companies in the IT industry.

“The normal IT industry attrition is 15-20%, which is not getting replaced and with automation taking over, more than 200,000 jobs are likely to be lost in next two years,” CIEL HRServices CEO Aditya Narayan Mishra told the Economictimes. “This may sound depressing, but all is not lost. There are enough opportunities to be leveraged upon.”

Mishra stated that new opportunities are rising in areas such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, while most of the layoffs are taking place in segments like IT infrastructure support, testing and software development.

The survey stated that approximately 50% of the laid off workforce in the IT industry, including freshers with under eight years of experience, will be re-skilled and transferred to other opportunities. The survey adds that the remaining 50% could find opportunities in other sectors.

Meanwhile, the survey data also showed that 33% of the respondents expected factors like automation and changing government policies resulting in job losses.

According to data from Naukri.com, the IT and Software Industry saw a decline in hiring of 17% in May when compared to the previous year.

Source: India – Half of redundant IT workers will be re-skilled and rehired