IT companies in India to step on the accelerator for lateral hiring

Much like everything else, IT companies have also been shaken up by the pandemic. All stakeholders are trying their best to define the new normal and formulate steps towards achieving it. A trend has come to light and to counter its effect IT companies have decided to pursue lateral hiring. As the attrition rate - which is the number of employees that continue with the company - drops, IT companies have been forced to increase their lateral hires.

Lateral hiring refers to hiring individuals at the same level, and salary as their last job. This means that a lateral hire would not have to work their way up at a new organization. Companies have been unable to retain employees on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hiring freshers, while easy on the payroll, will not meet the demands that the sector will be facing in the near future.

The IT companies are resorting to such high rates of lateral hiring as the training of freshers is causing a delay that the sector simply cannot afford at the moment. Plans of lateral hiring and to hire 40,000 fresh graduates, the Indian IT sector is ready to land strong on its feet. 

While Wipro has stated that lateral hiring was always a part of their plan, HCL says that no immediate hiring will be done to replace the diminishing attrition. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), on the other hand, say that instead of hiring in the first quarter, they reskilled existing employees. Positions vacated due to the pandemic were filled by training existing employees of the company with relevant skills.

However, now TCS too will be resuming lateral hiring as the demand continues to rise faster than the workforce is managing to meet it. The IT companies in India have tried to keep up morale by launching new initiatives for the staff. TCS, for instance, has revamped their learning modules, and promotions within the company have been initiated. Infosys has tried to increase variable pay for their employees.

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