The Hindu Business Line : ‘India facing competition from other APAC nations’

Hyderabad, April 20 India has an advantage compared to most other APAC nations in the IT services and ITES sectors, but countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can give stiff competition.

“India has very high growth in sectors for which we do not have adequate talent and if we do not change our curriculum as per the needs of the industry, then countries such the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can pose a challenge as they have a large talent pool,” Mr Shrikant Sinha, Director (Operations) U21 Global, said while addressing a seminar organised by CareerNet Consulting here.

According to estimates, around 39 million workers are required world over and in the IT and ITES sectors, 28 per cent of the total workforce is from India.

“Today’s job requirements are changing. Rather than book knowledge, having analytical capabilities is more essential. Unfortunately, this is where we are falling behind. Out of the total number of graduates passing out of colleges, only 10 per cent are employable directly. So there is an urgent need for the academia and industry to come together to change this,” Mr Sinha said.

According to Mr Sreenivasa Y Rao, Global Recruitment, Staffing and Mobility Head, Capgemini Financial Services SBU, the reason for China having such a strong manufacturing sector is because of the extensive interaction between the academia and the industry. “India must also look at replicating this for the IT and ITES sector to have an advantage over other countries,” he said.

“Another new trend that we are witnessing in South Asia is campus hiring. Due to advantages in cost and lack of opportunities locally, students from countries such as Sri Lanka and Nepal are being hired,” Mr Rishi Das, Chief Executive Officer, CareerNet Consulting said.

He said that campus salaries in IT companies have jumped 17.6 per cent in the last two years across domains with 71 per cent of the students receiving salary between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lak