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Infosys to freeze fresh
hiring, opts for economic prudence
New
Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) India's second largest exporter of IT
services Infosys Technologies has decided to freeze its annual
hiring cycle following the global economic slowdown that is
increasingly impacting the Indian outsourcing story.
Infosys
had planned to hire 25,000 people earlier this year, and of
this the company has till date created jobs for about 16,000-17,000,
company chief executive Kris Gopalakrishnana said here Thursday.
"We
will honour job commitments to 6,000 people who are currently
under training but have currently stalled fresh recruitment,"
he said at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII).
The
company also runs a two-monthly paid internship summer programme
for undergraduate students of various universities worldwide.
But whether the programme would be axed is yet to be decided,
Gopalakrishnan said.
Gopalakrishnan,
who said the slowing growth rate of the outsourcing industry
was the primary reason behind the decision to freeze fresh
recruitments, however, denied Infosys was looking at downsizing.
"Last
year the IT industry grew more than 30 percent, this year
it is looking at somewhere in the region of 15 percent. We
will have to look at controlling our cost, controlling our
expenses, and making sure that we run an optimised business,"
he said.
Gopalakrishnan
said his Bangalore-based Infosys spends about $1.7 million
annually on training and induction of new staff, which he
said would be brought down.
The
National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom),
the IT industry trade body, had earlier this year forecast
a 21 percent growth for the outsourcing industry.
Orders
have dwindled because of the slowdown in the US, which accounts
for more than 60 percent of Indian software exports, Gopalakrishnan
admitted, even while predicting the industry would return
to its 30-35 percent growth trajectory once the situation
eased.
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