Indian Job Boards Report Tech Hiring Slowdown

The Indian IT industry is experiencing a slowdown in hiring, with several major companies reducing their intake of new employees.

Info Edge, one of India’s fastest-growing technology firms and the owner of the popular job portal Naukri, expressed concerns about the possibility of IT companies “getting rid of extra staff” before recruiting fresh graduates from college campuses.

“We are unsure when IT hiring will rebound. We haven’t witnessed any signs of recovery yet,” Info Edge CEO Hitesh Oberoi told stock market analysts recently.

IT companies account for 65% of recruiters on Naukri’s job portal.

Despite extensive research, no definitive reasons have been identified for the hiring slowdown. While some attribute it to the rise of automation, others point to recessionary trends in the US and European economies.

Naukri’s study found that despite a decline in hiring volume, salaries for skilled IT professionals have increased by 15%.

Vijay Sivaram, CEO of Quess IT Staffing, told The Economic Times that he has observed a growing demand for new technology skills, including generative AI, DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud and data science.

The hiring slowdown is evident across most major IT companies in India. TCS hired only 9,840 workers in fiscal Q2, a significant drop from the 14,136 people it onboarded in the first quarter.

Wipro’s net addition of staff also plummeted to 605 employees from 15,446 persons in the previous quarter. Infosys, India’s IT bellwether, witnessed a staggering 50% decline in new recruitment.