56,000 Layoffs and Counting: India's IT Bloodbath This Year May Just Be the Start (qz.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: For Indian techies, 2017 was the stuff of nightmares. One of the top employment generators until a few years ago, India's $160 billion IT industry laid off more than 56,000 employees this year. Some analysts believe this spree was worse than the one during the 2008 financial crisis. Meanwhile, hiring plummeted, with entry-level openings having more than halved in 2017, according to experts. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys, two of India's largest IT companies and once leaders in job creation, reduced their headcounts for the first time ever. Even mid-sized players like Tech Mahindra retrenched several employees.

Compared to the normal rate of forced attrition (i.e. asking non-performers to leave) of around 1% in earlier years, 2017 saw Indian IT companies letting go of between 2% and 6% of their employees, said Alka Dhingra, general manager of IT staffing at TeamLease Services. Infosys cut 9,000 jobs in January. "Instead of 10 people, what if we have three people to work on (a project). If we don't have the software, then some others will take the advantage (away from us)," Vishal Sikka, the former CEO of the Bengaluru-based company, said in February. Meanwhile, around 6,000 Indian employees at Cognizant reportedly lost their jobs to automation.

Comments

1% under performing? Really?

[Tangential]

Based on my experience with I.T. offshoring in India, I laughed out loud when I read that 1% represents the under performing employees. Perhaps its a nuance of the language and underperforming has no relationship to to good service or solving problems there.

Automation will hit developing and 2nd world

[rsilvergun]

economies hard. All three articles mention it as the cause. We're at the point where subsistence wages are more than a machine. I think India's government sees this coming and is trying to bring tax dollars in to mitigate it, but I'm guessing it'll be too little, too late. Like America and Japan they've got a culture of overwork. But what do you do when the world doesn't need ditch diggers anymore? If you leave them to rot their join armies and start wars and genocides.

Re:Non-performers...1%

[gtall]

I have a 5 digit ID and I can certainly remember Japan being synonymous with poor quality. They were also known for low end of any markets. Then they got smart, hired efficiency and quality experts and having a fairly uniform population, were able to pull out of their rut. That was the second phase. Now they are into their third phase where some of their industries are tired of the constant improvement and are looking to cut corners and their managers make off with the loot before the shit hits the fan. Maybe they'll pull out of it before hitting a wall.

Re:Side effects of “America First”

[HornWumpus]

Changing the H1B allocation process from lottery to 'highest paid' cuts the Indian body shops off at the knees.

It's still 'gameable', but not on the cheap.

Winning so much I'm tired of it? Not yet.

[Seven Spirals]

Dear Trump. I'm not tired of winning yet. Please send another million or so Indians packing. Then we can talk.

OffShoreReversal

[sdinfoserv]

American companies have finally realized
1 -their customers detest trying to have a conversation with someone who doesn't speak English - and that Indian is NOT English.
2- Costs of Indian developers isn't that cheap once you factor administrative, project management and commutation problems within a group on the other side of the planet - again, with people don't understand the cultural nuances of American English speech
. On the positive, companie can't find enough workers in the US paying great salaries. Ride while you can!

Yeah, but that's not what'll happen

[rsilvergun]

China doesn't have the graineries to feed it's people, and they're not gonna get them from India. Wars are fought to steal valuable land. If China goes to war with anybody it'll be the US. More likey they'll just buy us out. Haven't you heard? The aristocracy is global now. They don't fight among themselves on the national stage. Not over anything important. That's for pleebs like you and me. Now get back to arguing over gun control, abortion and whether White Culture is a thing or if Black Lives matter or whatnot and forget about all those pesky economics...