Nasscom chief Som Mittal

A slowdown in hiring and pay-hike squeeze have been forecast by the IT industry association, Nasscom, confirming the worst fears of young professionals.

“The attrition rates have come down by at least six to seven per cent in the past few months because of the market condition. This will surely slow down hiring,” said Som Mittal, the president of Nasscom.

“The industry is working very hard to improve utilisation of resources, which will also have an impact on the need for fresh manpower,” he added. Last year, the manpower growth in IT was around 15 per cent and the headcount had crossed 2 million.

“The average growth in increment, too, will take a hit and come down from last year’s 13 to 14 per cent to a single-digit figure,” said Sangeeta Gupta, the vice-president of Nasscom.

Unlike the forecast on increment, Nasscom is steering clear of the politically sensitive job-growth projection. But industry insiders claimed that new jobs would be difficult to come by and poor performers would be shown the door as companies are on a cost-cutting overdrive.

“The demand for people shrank over the past few months and the future looks grimmer,” said a headhunter who specialises in IT recruitment.

The situation will compound problems for youngsters either passing out of colleges or planning to switch jobs.

Paromita Das (name changed on request), an employee of a leading software services company, had to resign last month under instructions from her seniors.

“I was benched for four months and finally my seniors asked me to resign as I was not a billable resource for the company,” recounted Paromita, who is desperately looking for a job.

The indefinite postponement of the joining dates of a number of fresh graduates from Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, is another indication of the tough days awaiting job aspirants.