The rollercoaster ride of the IT Industry in 2022

As we close 2022, we get reminded about what we have experienced throughout the year. Some of us would have had a great year, whilst others would have just liked to skip this dreadful year and move on ahead to the next year. And one can safely say that the Indian IT Industry went through a mixed bag when it comes to the year 2022. Let us take you through the highlights of this year.

Adapting and Evolving Strategies:

The IT industry started the year with having gotten accustomed to the remote working concept. This phenomenon had thrown businesses off gear at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic in 2020 and also in 2021. With the rise in usage of Zoom meetings, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams and the like, the IT industry has adopted Hybrid work models this year. These models are now here to stay and evolve with time.

‘People-first strategy’ also came into the picture, wherein the companies placed their employees in the forefront. The IT Industry also became the frontrunner in hiring D&I with 200K diversity hires in fiscal year of 2022.

The Start-ups Scene:

The start-up scenario had looked promising earlier, and it has put India in third place in the largest tech start-up hubs list this year. Over 25000 tech start-ups have mushroomed all over India.

Another major milestone is that India added its 100th unicorn start-up to its ever-growing list this year. Now with a whopping number of 107, these magical start-ups have raised a funding of $ 94 Billion and hold a collective market value of $ 344 Billion.

But in the second half of the year 2022, things turned sour for the Start-ups in India and their employees. 52 Indian start-ups had layed off 17,989 employees and to add to that downward spiral, 8 of the Venture Capitalist funded start-ups shut down too, amongst which the Edtech sector had the maximum number.

The Tech Job Market:

?2022 started off on a positive note for the IT Industry’s employees and as a nightmare for the employers. Companies on the hunt for talent based their acquisition on better salary packages, better career growth trajectories, work flexibility and other work benefits. IT employees found themselves with so many offers in their basket and the option to choose the one they wanted. It was not only other IT companies that took the talent, but also Non-IT Industries for their technical departments. And it did not help the IT Industry that the Non-IT had better pay and work-life balance.

The attrition rate was very high at the beginning of the year - India’s largest IT firm had the highest attrition rate in the Industry during the first quarter of FY22 at 25+%. Considering this, the Indian IT Industry recorded 20+% overall in 2022.

And while all these factors were playing around in the Indian IT industry already, the major players in the industry worldwide started layoffs on a big scale during the final half of the year. The dismissals on a global level, combined with the macroeconomic scenario playing into the picture, had begun affecting the Indian market as well. The situation looked bleak to many, who had lost their jobs as there were fewer and fewer jobs available in the market to take up. The screening for the few jobs that were available also became more stringent due to the previous mishaps in the industry.

A Glimmer of Hope:

In spite of all the austere events that happened in the year 2022, the Indian IT industry exceeded $22 Billion in revenue. And despite the layoffs that had happened, the overall hiring this year had been 4,50,000 plus employees, which is the highest-ever talent addition in recent years.

We can look on to the next year with a ray of hope. People looking to be hired in the IT field and looking to retain their jobs just need to make sure they have upskilled themselves with any of the latest technologies that are essential these days, stay updated, be honest and put their best foot forward.