Tech layoffs happening in US, not India, says Union Minister

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Layoffs are happening in the tech majors in the US and not in India, said Rajeev Chandrasekhar Union Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Moreover, according to him, India has added 18 lakh jobs in the technology and electronic sector in the two years since the pandemic

Mr. Chandrasekhar was responding to a concern expressed over the impact of the pandemic on the IT sector during an interaction with students at St. Teresa’s College ahead of the release of the Malayalam translation of IT guru and academician E. Balagurusamy’s biography on Friday.

‘Demand exceeds supply’

“The pandemic has only reinforced the relevance of the technology. In fact, the demand for professionals (in the technology and electronics sector) has far exceeded the supply. A youngster doing graduation now has 150% to 200% greater chance of landing a job provided he or she has the right skills,” said Mr. Chandrasekhar.

He urged youngsters to acquire additional skill sets alongside graduation. India is the most happening place in terms of digital ecosystem and talents.

‘No lay-offs in India’

Mr. Chandrasekhar also said that layoffs are happening in the tech majors in the US and not in India, and that he has even invited to India 500 staff recently laid off by a tech giant.

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Unlike in the past there is a reverse brain drain now with youngsters setting up start-ups and joining companies in India based on their expertise acquired abroad.

‘Luckiest’ generation

Mr. Chandrasekhar dubbed the current generation as the ‘luckiest’ considering the enabling atmosphere for excelling prevailing in the country unlike the last many decades.

“About 48% of the participants in the digital ecosystem and technology sector in India are women. There are many schemes for women entrepreneurs to succeed. Technology alone does not make up a startup. Instead there should be an idea driving it, a platform to execute it and a sustainable model to succeed,” he said.

When a student came up with the idea of waste management along the lines of an online cab aggregator, Mr. Chandrasekhar recommender her to run a pilot project in a limited geographical area by roping in residents associations and civic officials as stakeholders before expanding it.

Grey areas of NEP

He urged a teacher who lamented about the grey areas in the new National Education Policy (NEP) with regard to entrepreneurship opportunities for arts and science college students to write to him through the college so that he can take it up with the Ministry of HRD.

Mayor M. Anilkumar; Achuth S. Nair, Head, Department of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Kerala University; Mr. Balagurusamy; college principal Aphonsa Vijaya Joseph were also present at the event.