HIRING EXPERIENCED HANDS

In spite of the buzz around hiring them young and keeping them engaged at the workplace, the proportion of young professionals in IT firms is decreasing

In spite of the buzz around hiring them young and keeping them engaged at the workplace, the proportion of young professionals in IT companies is decreasing. The recent Infosys annual report points to the rising number of experienced professionals in its workforce. At Infosys, the percentage of employees aged between 18 and 25 is down to

28.16 per cent (at 57,475) from 31.19 per cent in the previous fiscal. But for all age groups older than 25, the percentage has risen. In fact, IT companies are hiring ‘just-in-time workforce’ so that they can bill their clients as soon as the employees are on the payroll, instead of hiring rookies and training them for six to eight months prior to deployment. Shorter contract renewal cycles have deprived companies of the ability to envisage what projects they will have the next year and they have no assurance that they will be able to make use of the skills for which a fresher is being trained. These issues are becoming critical as companies no longer enjoy double-digit growth. Plus, there is increased pressure on profits as they deploy more people on-site and need to maximise resources in India.