business

Updated: Aug 12, 2014 11:41 IST

Budding recovery signs in the US and Europe, a stable rupee and expanding budgets of clients have brought cheer to India’s software services sector.

The iconic industry, which has fuelled aspirations for millions of middle-class Indians, is back in the job market as a hot recruiter.

Around 170,000 to 180,000 new people are expected to join the Indian IT industry during 2014-15. A significant majority of these are fresh pofessionals, not mid-level lateral recruits.

Among those most in demand include techies with expertise in social, mobility, analytics and cloud computing — the new frontiers in the IT industry.

Sample this: TCS, the largest in the club, plans to recruit 55,000 more; new Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka has reached out to former employees in an apparent attempt for them to return to their alma-mater; Cognizant has steadily increased its headcount over the last two quarters.

HCL Tech, Wipro, Tech Mahindra have also announced similar intent.

At present, the Indian IT industry employs around 3.1 million people.

There is a word of caution though. The hiring may be higher than last year, yet it remains conservative. So, only people with the desired and relevant skill sets are able to cut ice with IT majors who are now demanding much more from their employees.

Such is the demand for additional hands that most companies have deployed their “bench strength”— an IT industry descriptor for underemployment. Analysts said most companies already have an employee utilisation rate of 70-80%.

“Companies have peaked with their bench utilisation so the flexibility to leverage people is already gone. As the demand environment for IT outsourcing continues to grow, companies are hiring more people,” said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president, research, Nasscom, an industry association of IT companies.