IT professionals in India are likely to see reduced job opportunities in the next six to 12 months, according to the Experis IT Employment Outlook for the period of October 2017 to March 2018.

The outlook, which surveyed 500 IT employers across India, showed that hiring intentions have dropped 8% from the last quarter and 23% from the first quarter of 2017, resulting in a net employment outlook of 50%. The net employment outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase in the next quarter, and from this subtracting the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment. 

Furthermore, India’s IT industry is looking at adjusting its talent pool by considering significant hiring at the junior and mid-levels, and layoffs in the senior slab, according to the survey. The collective number of layoffs that the IT firms are contemplating will reach a new high and this trend will continue for the next six to 12 months.

The survey added that IT professionals should use the next six to 12 months to upskill themselves.

“A rise in new enabling technologies such as software as a service (SaaS) offerings, cloud-based enterprise resource planning software, artificial intelligence’s unprecedented speed, accuracy and cost efficiency is significant to maintain the competitive edge which are driving the businesses now,” said Manmeet Singh, president at Experis, ManpowerGroup India.

The majority of IT employers also said that the focus is shifting from scale to upskilling.

Companies are now looking for fresh talent in the market that is upskilled already with the latest technologies and ready to hit the ground running AG Rao, group managing director, ManpowerGroup India, told The Economic Times of India. “Digital technologies increase the need to adapt even more quickly to disruptive new applications and services. Technology will continue its foray in mainstream business to drive and grow the business.”