India faces IT worker shortage

Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 1:03 PM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

It looks like India will soon have to import some indentured American
IT workers. Perhaps Americans have a future in IT afterall.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-984864.html

India faces IT worker shortage

By Winston Chai
CNETAsia
February 18, 2003, 8:01 AM PT
URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-984864.html
India could be faced with a shortage of a quarter-million IT workers in
five years unless there is reform in technical education, warns an IT
industry association in the country.

According to a recent survey by the Nasscom (National Association of
Software and Services Companies), the country will require a million
tech workers by 2008.

The group cautions however, this gargantuan requirement cannot met
based on the nations current intake trends for technical talent.

"Though India has a large talent pool, with 167,000 engineering
students and 1.54 million graduates passing out of India's educational
institutions annually, some training gaps remain, said Kiran Karnik,
Nasscoms president.

Nasscom said the supply of IT workers should reach only 885,000 in five
years time, translating to a shortfall of 235,000 professionals.

Karnik is calling for action to plug gaps in education, as well as
greater cooperation between private and public sectors to offer
intensive training on specific skills required by the tech sector.

The IT industry, on its part, must provide appropriate training for
students through internships, he said. Students in various technical
disciplines must also be exposed to software training, he added

Other findings from Nasscoms survey include:

The number of Indian IT software and services professionals should hit

650,000 next month, a 24.4 percent spike from last year.

Basic salaries for IT workers rose an average of 8 percent rise in

2002, with most companies adopting the variable pay concept in a bid to
control costs and link pay to company performance.

Hiring of new IT professionals was highest in South India at 44% and

lowest in the Eastern region at 6%.

The overall median age of Indian software professionals was 26.5

years.

79 percent of professionals in software companies were men, whereas 21

percent were women. However, this ratio is likely to be 65:35 by the
year 2005. The ratio is reversed in the IT-enabled services sector
where the ratio of males to females is 35:65.

42 percent of the software professionals or knowledge workers

possessed over 3 years of working experience.

The survey also revealed that 76% of all software professionals had a

graduate degree or above.

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