As many as 50,000 tech jobs may temporarily shift to India due to the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, reports The Economic Times, citing staffing firms such as Randstad, Xpheno, and Ciel HR. The jobs that are likely to shift out include shared services across domains, low to mid R&D (research and development) and engineering work, back-office functions, data processing and customer support and solution maintenance services. Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president of IT sector lobby Nasscom, said, “A portion of work may shift to India due to the escalation, but this is a temporary shift. Other countries where these jobs are likely to move include Philippines, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, and regions in Western Europe. “If we go by the current demand, we think that around 55,000-65,000 jobs will get added to the Indian job market if the war continues in the coming months,” Yeshab Giri, chief commercial officer, Staffing & Randstad Technologies, Randstad India said. “As most of the countries like Poland, Belarus, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and others depend on Ukraine for their workforce, we see these mandates moving temporarily or permanently to India.”

Xpheno estimates about 10,000 jobs shifting to India from the conflict zone over the next quarter if the tensions continue. “Due to the war, work by the employees in Ukraine is disrupted and companies have shifted work to other locations in the region, and even India,” said Aditya Mishra, CEO, Ciel HR Services.

The Indian government refused to support UN resolutions condemning the invasion of Ukraine and abstained in yesterday’s vote to oust Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.