'IT Cos Must Focus On Building Disruptive Products & Niche Technologies' McKinsey and Co report says nearly half of India's IT workforce is likely to become irrelevant in three-four years

One of India's most promising sectors, in terms of employment generation — the Information Technology domain — has come under the weather.

The outcome was harsh with several executives suddenly losing their jobs. Industry experts have warned that these layoffs would continue for the next two years. Of the major chunk of people working in the domain, some will start thinking of alternative career options while others will rather prefer to upskill themselves to survive the storm.

In an interview to the Entrepreneur India, Diwakar Chittora, Co-founder & CEO, Intellipaat.com, tried to explain the root cause of such an industry-wide collapse.

Layoffs Not Happening For The First Time

Talking about the sudden spree of job cuts, Chittora said, "All the companies need good resources, which can add value and ensure their growth. But, many a times, even after due diligence in the hiring work they go wrong. When companies earn good profits and are highly funded, their complete focus remains on the growth trajectory and they often make the mistake of recruiting miss-fit candidates. These employees survive as human resources are needed in every organization."

"Layoffs are not happening for the first time this year. It happens in almost all companies every year mainly at the time of appraisals, where managers identify people who cannot function independently and need regular follow-ups. Their efficiency level is at 40-50 per cent of what is actually required from them," he pointed out.

According McKinsey and Co report, nearly half of India's IT workforce is expected to become irrelevant in the three-four years. According to the company, the bigger challenge would be in retaining the available workforce because of the dramatic shift in technologies.

IT Cos Must Stop Depending On US For Revenue Stream

Chittora said IT companies must now focus on building disruptive products and creating workforce that would deliver IT services in niche technologies. This, according to him, would give higher margins and competition would be lower. Instead of depending completely on the US for revenue stream, new geographical regions should be explored, he said. This would help companies create jobs rather than losing employee count.

Chittora said people have now started seeking new technologies to upgrade themselves as the resources requirement is high and available resources on new technologies are very less. Some of the hot skills which are in demand currently are Big Data, Data Science, Machine Learning, CRM, Analytics and Reporting. "We have seen a good increase in the number of learners showing interest in these skills in the past two years," he said. Training programmes around Big Data, Data Science, Analytics & Reporting will be in vogue for the next two years, he added.