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Cut through the Hype…

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DQI Bureau
New Update

The IT education and training industry did not remain immune to the impact of

the overall global economic slowdown. The sluggish performance of the sector was

largely a result of the hype generated around the IT industry downturn. News

from the Silicon Valley in the United States and parts of Europe centered around

job cuts, layoffs and a freeze on hiring by key global players, resulting in

falling consumer confidence in information technology.

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A barrage of reports pointing to shrinking opportunities in the IT career

bazaar added to the confusion, compelling young aspirants to question the allure

of IT careers. The result was that in the first half of 2001, students adopted a

wait-and-watch policy, delaying their decision of taking up IT courses while

evaluating the prospects of the industry.

“The IT downturn brought sanity into a market where there weren’t any entry barriers...even a hosiery firm named XYZ Softwear could get crazy valuation in the stock market” 

P Rajendran 

Overall, the IT education segment shrank, bringing with it significant

changes in composition and focus. But the global downturn brought some sanity in

a market place where there were not too many entry barriers, making it easy for

even a company in the hosiery business but named XYZ Softwear to get crazy

valuations in the stock market!

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While the larger players with strong fundamentals managed to survive,

training leaders in fact, garnered a larger share of the diminishing marketplace–it

was the smaller players who took the brunt of the recessive global wave. The

country’s key IT education leaders who were trying to establish business in

geographies beyond India, where the need for IT manpower was acute, were able to

entrench themselves deeper in these markets.

Domestic turf



Back in India, the good news is that young Indians consider computers as the

‘coolest’ career. A study conducted in March-April 2001 by the music

channel, MTV in association with the Indian Market Research Bureau covering 1619

people between the age groups of 15-24, revealed that computer courses have high

acceptance among the youth.

It is also becoming evident to end users and students that a ‘working

knowledge of IT’ is a must to get ahead in life. Take the instance of a

recently conducted survey covering around 8,770 students across 233 colleges and

six key universities in the state of Maharashtra. Undertaken by research agency,

Development Planning and Research Center, the study throws up some interesting

insights in the minds of the youth. It indicates that a significant 48% of

respondents are currently enrolled in IT training programs! These students have

in fact, demanded that computer education be made a part of the curriculum for

every faculty, including arts.

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Looking ahead



While the global slowdown had an impact on the short term, it is beyond

doubt that IT has now become fundamental in every walk of life and will witness

strong demand recovery as the economic revival sets in. More and more

organizations will look to IT companies to computerise their operations, driving

up the demand for technology and in turn for technology professionals.

By all accounts, the prospects of India’s IT training industry remain

promising. Silicon Valley bigwigs have once again started opening doors to

recruitment and one cannot help but believe that IT careers will be back in the

spotlight. The other issue is that countries such as USA, Germany, UK, Italy,

France, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are continuing to face a demand-supply

gap in the area of IT manpower. In India too, the opportunities for IT training

remain hot.

Nasscom’s Strategic Review 2002 shows that there is expected to be a

shortage of nearly 530,000 IT professionals in India alone during the next four

years. This does not include the employment opportunities in the IT enabled

services segment. These professionals will be absorbed in companies that export

software, organizations that develop software for India and corporates who need

professionals to take charge of their in-house IT needs.

IT training in India, therefore, continues to have major potential.

Opportunities exist for serious, committed and trusted players both in the

domestic and export markets and this trend will gain momentum as IT continues to

pervade every aspect of our lives.

P Rajendran



The author is chief operating officer, NIIT

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