IT WORKFORCE

There are several reasons that contribute for the highly skilled work force in India. The education system has traditionally placed great emphasis on mathematics and science, resulting in large pool of science and engineering graduates. Mastery over quantitative concepts coupled with English proficiency has resulted in a skill set that is ideally suited for the IT industry. Indian universities are pumping out 135,00 engineering graduates every year. However even with these large figures McKinsey & Co and NASSCOM predicts a shortfall of IT workers in India.(2) This is  due to the fact that the country faces a severe brain drain with most of its IT skilled workers opting to move overseas for better pay & living conditions.

Estimated workforce composition in India (30)

Even though the salary of IT skilled workers has increased over 23% in the last three years in India, there is a crave to earn more and to work in more intellectually stimulating work places abroad. Experienced IT workers earn an average of US $ 20,000 which is approximately one fourth of their counterparts in the US. Nearly 70% of India's technology industry is concentrated in software services sector. India's abundant skilled manpower is drawing corporate hubs to back end their operations in India.

The segments that are likely to see tremendous growth in India include back office operations, remote education, data search, market research and customer interaction services. India due  to its geostrategic location is in a position to offer 24x7 service and reduction in turnaround times by leveraging time zone differences. The Indian government is also offering special incentives for call centers  and medical transcription facilities that are being set up in India. As per Nasscom-Mckinsey report, The IT industry with current capabilities  can attain revenues of US $17 billion by 2008 thereby capturing 12% of the market.

    Top

   Home