It's raining jobs at major IT firms

Hyderabad, Feb 4: With the economy on the path of recovery, it is raining jobs at major Information Technology (IT) firms. However, this is having an adverse effect on start-ups, who are facing the challenge of getting right candidates as well as retaining them.Over the past one year, start-ups were able to cash in on the slump in the job market but things are not looking rosy now. "Last year, we were able to recruit six persons as the markets were down. But now we are unable to select a single candidate with good skills though we have 10 openings," says the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a start-up IT company.

India's largest IT exporter, the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced plans to hire 8,300 trainees and around 3,000 laterals or experienced persons in the fourth quarter of this fiscal. IT major Infosys, which will exceed its hiring target of 25,000 for the current financial year, has made 20,000 campus offers for 2009-10 fiscal. The company has already dispatched about 18,000 offer letters to prospective employees. The Wipro's hiring plans for 2009-10 are also on the track with the company planning to hire 8,500 persons by May-June this year.Many start-ups, who hired during the slowdown, now fear that their current employees may quit and join the large firms.

"People are leaving start-ups to join the large firms as they pay good salaries, which as a start-up we cannot afford," says another senior executive of a small firm. "By working in a start-up, a person will get more responsibilities, learn newer things and enjoy better visibility, which will pay off in the long run," says a woman employee who is on the verge of quitting a small firm to join a multi-national IT giant.Another CEO believes that people, who join start-ups, take up the jobs just because they want to work in a start-up environment. "Last year, we hired from several B-schools and these were people who were keenly interested to work only in a start-up without worrying about the monetary benefits," the CEO says. According to him, this time the company has already received one summer recruit from IIM-Bangalore and also has some prospects in other universities.