IT, BPO growth may lead to talent crunch

By agencies   |   Friday, 19 May 2006, 19:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
MUMBAI: The rapid growth in the software services and BPO industry in the country is expected to lead to a shortage of manpower in the coming years, according to Mohan Das Pai, director, Infosys Technologies. Other industries like automotives, construction and the like that also need engineers will not be able to recruit as the software industry has better salaries, he added. The situation is expected to worsen in coming times and if there is not enough engineering talent created in the country the growth of the economy could be affected. The government has expanded the number of engineering seats in the country to 495,000, with around 1,450 colleges. According to Pai, out of this available pool only 2,25,000 graduates have the requisite skills and training to be employed by IT companies. Due to the quality of the engineering talent available, Pai feels the IT industry will have to spend close to $2.6 billion on training and to fulfill its growth requirement. According to him, the IT industry will spend more on training than what the government spends on higher education. The government spends around $2 billion on higher education and this is grossly inadequate, Pai said.