Other IT jobs will see an uptick though: HfS research.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
Information Technology has been one of the most flourishing industries in India, creating millions of jobs directly and indirectly and earning a substantial amount of foreign income. But a new study conducted by HfS research, a US-based research firm says that India’s IT industry will lose 640,000 or 30 percent low-skilled jobs in next five years due to automation.
“We’ve already precisely pinpointed that 30% of routine, low-value positions are being phased out through automation over the next five years, far outweighing the expected new jobs being created in the medium-high skills areas,” Phil Fersht, CEO of HfS Research, said in a blog.
According to the report, while low-skilled jobs will reduce by 30 percent, medium-skilled, and high-skilled jobs will rise by 8 percent and 56 percent, respectively.
The routine and repetitive tasks done by low-skilled workers will be replaced by automation. A trend towards automation has already started in Indian IT industry.
“India has enjoyed hyper-growth in its services industry for over two decades now, and this is the first time a decline is now setting in, in terms of worker numbers. Its leading service providers will maintain high margins for several years to come, but their growth through linear employee scale addition is on the slide,” wrote Fersht.
HfS Research predicts a 9 percent fall in IT and BPO jobs worldwide by 2021. Countries including the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States are likely to take a hit. A total of 7.7 lakh low-skilled jobs in the US and 2 lakh in the UK are expected to lose during the period.
The report also says that about 1.6 lakh medium and high skilled jobs will be created within the industry.
The industry is, however, hopeful that automation will not have a huge impact on jobs. “Nobody’s really seen what automation and robotics will really lead to. There will be some impact of automation but overall we believe that technology adoption will actually lead to more job creation across sectors,” Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president at The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), told Economic Times.
The $150 billion IT industry of India employs more than 3.5 million people.