Tough time for IT job seekers in Pune

Mid-day.com: THIS is really a tough time for IT job seekers in Pune. The industry is under economic slowdown with recruiters putting the process on hold. But city-based placement consultants are expecting a change in the scenario in coming months.

With Infosys disclosing its plan of increasing its resource base in Pune, placement agencies are smelling a new beginning. Singing a positive tune, Saurabh Shroff, head (marketing) of myjobsinpune.com said, “This economic slowdown is all US-oriented and many Indian IT giants have already diversified their business in Europe. For us, this phase is just slowdown in growth.”

Shroff’s projects a 16-24 per cent growth in the business this year. “Big Animation, a venture by Reliance, has planned a new setup with 380 people in Pune. ITES segment prefers freshers due to the cost factor. In core IT services, experienced and skilled professionals are still in demand. We cater to local companies keeping in mind their specific requirements and we are happy with the results and trends,” Shroff said.

One interesting outcome of slowdown scenario is the significant decrease in job changing practices. “In the last one year, the average service period of professionals with a company was around six months to one year. This year, we have hardly come across such case as the professionals prefer stability and credibility,” said Ashok Salunkhe, head (corporate ventures) 360 Degrees HR consulting services.

“Keeping the career path in mind, professionals prefer big companies. The slowdown has mostly affected smaller companies as there is a severe crunch of talented resources to push projects. There is also less budgetary provision for recruitment. We see this as temporary phase. Pune industry is all set to groom in various sectors like manufacturing, pharmacy and biotechnology,” he added.

According to Adarsha Shrivastav, MD of High tech technologies, the biggest challenge before Pune based IT companies, especially in ERP segment, is lack of right talent. “This leads us to find good candidates from outside. September to December is supposed to be ideal season for recruitment drive. We can definitely expect a much positive response,” Shrivastav said.

Admitting the current slowdown has hit smaller and middle size companies largely, Nicky Tejwaney, Director of NSR Placement pointed out that hiring percentage by IT companies has dropped down by 30 per cent this year.

Big companies are managing their business by putting  recruitment on hold; while small companies, even with projects in hand are facing a severe talent crunch because of the slowdown process in the city.

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