Where is the job market heading?

irst the somber news, the good old days when IT professionals called the shots are not back. Worse, Indian techies can bid a determined adieu to them. The good news, or shall we modify the adjective to better sounding news, is that IT Inc's hiring managers are beginning to scout for talent. The market is thawing but the degree and form of recovery still remains a question. In an attempt to find the answers, AssureConsulting.com brings an article in five parts analysing the state of trends in India and US.

Hiring, as Indian techies learnt bitterly during the downturn, is linked to economic and company performance. The techie's seeming invincibility cracked with the diving market performance of most companies. India Inc., despite the worst ever recession in the US, has succeeded in recording a 30 per cent growth rate despite the odds. The first article in the series Is the job market thawing analyses the effect the Indian IT sector's performance has had on the chilled job market.

Bench is an ugly and reality of a techie's life in Indian software service companies. The article Benched Employees = Benched Employment analyses the situation in terms of jobs and how it is bound to affect future hiring plans of companies.

The buzz created by ITES has raised false expectations of a revival in the job market. In ITES is not IT, we argue why techies cannot draw any warmth from the spectacular growth of this nascent sector.

It is not ITES alone that is driving companies to India. Over the past one year a large number of MNCs have opened offshore development centres in India to leverage its cost effectiveness. India, with its significant cost savings, has also emerged as an attractive offshore outsourcing destination that is fuelling the job market's growth. Read Offshore-outsourcing makes job market tick for the lowdown.

Despite the downturn, US continues to be the dream destination of Indian techies. The last article of this series US economy recovers but does not sizzle analyses the trends in the US market.

These articles that form bits and pieces of the puzzle to the job market do point to a definitive trend that the job market is showing signs of a modest recovery. For the next three quarters, hiring will however be cautious and the number of opportunities in India, will exceed those in the US. The emphasis will, however, be on hiring skilled professionals. For fresher it's a long summer and a longer winter ahead.

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