Not just Cognizant: Other IT firms may hire 40% fewer engineers this year

Even if there were no Brexit or US Elections, hiring by IT firms would have been the same

Fresh graduates out of engineering colleges may find getting a job tougher at large IT services firms this year as India's IT industry struggles with new business models.

Technology services firms have traditionally hired thousands of fresh engineering graduates and trained them to build capacity to handle projects of their global clients. Now most of these entry level jobs can be automated, forcing IT firms to reduce their campus hiring.

So Indian information technology (IT) services firms are likely to hire 40 per cent fewer engineering graduates this year. Tech firms have been witnessing a dip in traditional software services and maintenance business, which earns them a major chunk of revenue, as clients are demanding services on digital technology and cloud. This is freeing up people from repetitive tasks such as testing and low-end maintenance.

Infotech companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and HCL Technologiescontinue to go to campuses, but have offered jobs to 60,000 engineers this year against 100,000 last year.

“Campus hiring dropped by at least 40 per cent from 2015-16,” said Kris Lakshmikanth, chairman and managing director of The Head Hunters India, a recruiting agency for the infotech sector. Industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies last month said growth in overall job creation by the sector was 5 per cent this year.

Infosys, India’s second-largest infotech firm, said it had hired 5,000 people in April-December 2016 against 17,000 in the same period a year ago. Over 9,000 employees were released to other projects because of automation, it added.

Cognizant is likely to ask around 10,000 people to leave as it shifts its business towards digital and consulting, which require skills different from those in traditional services. Read Article Source

TCS Board clears Rs 16,000 cr share buyback; biggest in India

The buyback size works out to 2.85% of firm's paid up equity capital, at Rs 2,850 a share

Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS') board of directors has approved a proposal to buyback up to 5,61,40,351 equity shares of the company for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 16,000 crore, the company informed BSE in a filing.

The buyback size works out to 2.85 per cent of the company's total paid up equity share capital, at Rs 2,850 per equity share.

"The buyback is proposed to be made from the shareholders of the company on a proportionate basis under the tender offer route using the stock exchange mechanism in accordance with the provisions contained in the Sebi (Buy Back of Securities) Regulations, 1998, and the Companies Act, 2013, and rules made thereunder," the filing said.

Further, the buyback size does not include any expenses incurred or to be incurred for the buyback like filing fees, advisory fees, public announcement publication expenses, printing and dispatch expenses, and other incidental and related expenses.

The company also said that the buyback is subject to approval of the members by means of a special resolution through a postal ballot. The public announcement setting out the process, timelines and other requisite details will be released in due course in accordance with the buyback regulations. Read more

Automation, digitisation bigger disruptors than Trump: Vishal Sikka

Sikka cautions that most of the work done Infosys can already be done with AI systems

Latest News : Infosys chief executive Vishal Sikka (pictured) has cautioned that the tidal wave of automation and technology-fuelled transformation could make the traditional information technology services obsolete. And, asked employees to shift their behaviour to adopt to shifts in technology.

“The mountains ahead are tall ones. There is no other way but to get there and go... if we don’t, we will be made obsolete by the tidal wave of automation and technology-fuelled transformation that is almost upon us,” Sikka, the first non-founder chief executive, wrote in a New Year letter to employees.

Sikka, whose letter had the subject: ‘Answers are blowing in the wind,’ cautioned that most of the work done by firms such as Infosys can already be done with artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

“Our path forward is very clear – we need to harness the dual forces of automation and innovation. We must embrace automation to become more productive in the work that we do and with the resulting capacity, focus our attention upwards towards innovation, both for ourselves and our clients. The foundation for all of this is our culture, our values and especially our infrastructure for life-long learning,” he said. Read More

Read our full coverage on Infosys

Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest tech tycoons

Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest tech tycoons

Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar are the only two billionaires from India in Forbes' list of the world's 100 richest people in technology, ranking in the top 20 ahead of Google boss Eric Schmidt and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

The '100 Richest Tech Billionaires In The World 2016' list has been topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates with an estimated fortune of USD 78 billion.

Premji ranks 13th on the list with a net worth of USD 16 billion and Nadar comes in on the 17th spot with USD 11.6 billion of net worth. Two Indian-American technology czars Symphony Technology Group CEO Romesh Wadhwani and founders of IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel Bharat Desai and his wife Neerja Sethi are also on the list.

Forbes said Premji, who heads India's third-largest outsourcer, Wipro has been on a buying spree in the past year to boost growth. Azim Premji son Rishad, who heads strategy and sits on the board, also oversees Wipro's USD 100 million venture capital fund.

Nadar co-founded HCL, which is reportedly mulling a US listing, Forbes said adding that Nadar also owns HCL TalentCare, a skills-development firm that provides training to new graduates. His latest venture is a USD 500 million fund to invest in start ups and US healthcare tech firms. Read More

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