Retrenched techies not keen on stagnant IT start-up sector in Hyderabad

City techies who were retrenched as part of companies’ cost optimisation exercise do not appear quite keen to consider start-up IT firms and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) for job opportunities, courtesy the slow growth rate of start ups and SMEs in city. The volatile SME space, which is guaranteed by venture capitalists’ investment, does not have  prolonged support, especially as an innovative business model that is prone to either succeed or bomb.

The latter holds true in cases where the businesses have contributed a stagnant 10 per cent of IT exports in Hyderabad for the past two years. “The quantum of investment into this space is low compared to other states in India. So, even if the IT exports are growing, the start-up bubble is not constantly supported by either the government or capitalists,” said Praveen Chandrahas, member of Forum for IT professionals, a techie welfare forum. The government is interested in improving businesses which need not guarantee increased employability of talent, he added.

According to a report released by a tech employee forum, close to 25,000 techies from Hyderabad alone were retrenched due to IT slowdown. Mahesh Kumar (name changed), a techie who was terminated from Tech Mahindra, said that though dependability of start-ups on employee is high, they do not provide a sustainable work opportunity as it is a project-specific approach. “It is viable for freelancers and not for long-term employees like us,” he said.

The termination letter also states that one cannot work for any company whose clients are the same leaving us with limited options, he added. Murali Krishna, brand manager at Keka HR, said, “Not every business idea is workable and hence the venture capitalists are more cautious in their investment that is slumping the growth rate,” he said. Though the government has bounced back after the Telangana agitation, we still need to catch up with other states, especially in producing a talented pool who are not forced to look for a placement opportunity but to be an entrepreneur, he added.

SMEs contribute only 10 per cent to IT exports

IT exports have increased from 57,000 crores in 2014-2015 to 85,470 crores in 2016-2017 despite SMEs contributing to just 10 per cent of the total exports. The annual summit of SMEs by HYSEA (Hyderabad Software Enterprise Association found that SME sector in Hyderabad contributes to 10 per cent of total IT exports of Hyderabad which is 87,000 crores, president of HYSEA, Ranga Pothula, said.

Source: The New Indian Express