Software firm Capgemini to ramp up hiring in FY25
Summary
- This hiring push comes as India's IT sector looks to rebound from a year of cautious global tech spending following macroeconomic uncertainties
Mumbai: Capgemini, a leading software services provider, plans to hire "in big numbers" in India for fiscal year 2025 (FY25), anticipating a surge in domestic business. In a conversation with Mint, Nisheeth Srivastava, chief technology & innovation officer, India Industry Platform, Capgemini, shared that the increase in headcount aligns with industry competitors, marking a positive shift after a challenging FY24 across the IT sector.
As of February 2024, Capgemini had 175,000 employees in India.
This hiring push comes as India's IT sector, projected to end FY24 with a cumulative revenue of $253.9 billion according to Nasscom, looks to rebound from a year of cautious global tech spending following macroeconomic uncertainties.
In the first three quarters of FY24, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Infosys Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, and Wipro Ltd saw a collective decline of 49,936 employees, as per data collated from quarterly and annual financial reports by Mint. Following third quarter results, domestic IT majors cautioned that overall sentiment among clients across various industries remains cautious, with minimal discretionary spending.
Meanwhile, Srivastava highlighted a critical gap between the domestic IT industry's hiring needs and India's technical education curriculum, noting that less than 1% of educational institutions meet industry standards. This disparity sets India apart from countries like China, Israel, and the former Soviet Bloc, which are crucial to global software services and innovation.
Contrary to concerns that generative artificial intelligence (AI) might reduce job opportunities, Srivastava argued that it would actually expand the workforce by enabling people of all ages to learn coding. "Everyone needs to hire more now. The knowledge economy will become far more proliferated."
He emphasized the importance of upskilling in data, machine learning, analytics, AI, and emerging areas like prompt engineering to meet the evolving demands of the knowledge economy.
To support skill development, Srivastava encouraged Indian students to leverage online courses, highlighting generative AI's role in personalizing learning content to individual needs and preferences.
The demand for specific skills, including user experience and interface (UI/UX), data science, and cybersecurity, is expected to rise amid the anticipated hike in hiring demand, according to Kamal Karanth, co-founder of recruitment firm Xpheno, underscoring the industry's evolving skillset requirements.