The dreams of young management graduates of launching their careers with top telecom companies are in serious jeopardy with hiring slump hitting the sector.
"While the overall ICT sector continues to do well, there has been some impact in placement from telecom companies, particularly operators and a few global vendors," acknowledges Prof Sunil Patil, Director at Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, India.
According to industry experts, it's not surprising. Given the scale of the telecom sector, any major development in this key sector will impact telecom hiring and also the overall recruitment scenario.
"2G verdict has created an uncertain future for the recruitment scenario. Before the verdict, this sector witnessed a considerable hike due to fresh players entering the market. Now, however, these new entrants are laying-off employees and premier players, thus posing a halt in the hiring process," says Deepak Kaistha, Managing Partner, Planman Consulting.
A few telecom companies where job cuts or hiring freeze was reported are Nokia Siemens Networks, Etisalat, and S-Tel, amongst others. (See Mounting Uncertainty Over Job Losses, New Telcos Adopt Quit India Policy and 2G Verdict: SC Cancels 122 Licenses.)
Changing trendsA trend indicates that telecom professionals are making successful transitions to other verticals. Employees working in the telecom sector are undergoing a shift due to the unavailability of options. "With over five years of telecom experience abroad, I've tried so hard to get a decent start in India. But even after six months, I am yet to find a suitable job in the sector. Finally, I have decided to switch the industry and am exploring different options," says a top ranked B-school graduate in marketing from National University of Singapore.
Recruiters maintain that job seekers should not restrict themselves to the verticals they have worked in and should explore opportunities across different verticals, if their particular sector is not offering good opportunities at that time.
"At the entry level, the overall growth story of the economy has a stronger impact than sector-specific trends. Nevertheless, if the candidate has specialized experience or expertise, there is a large pool of employers out there who are on the lookout for high-caliber talent," says Uday Sodhi, CEO, HeadHonchos.
The present slump has further resulted into some noticeable changes in the recruitment dynamics. Earlier, the service providers and networking companies dominated recruitment of young graduates. Now it is new product and VAS companies that are at the forefront to fill the gap.
"At our campus, there is an increase in the VAS (Value Added Services) companies and system integrators, and there is no major challenge to get our students placed", adds Prof Patil.
Hoping for the bestWhat may be good news, however, is that the slump is expected to stay for a short period, and with new technological advancements such as 4G entering the telecom domain, the market will improve in due course of time. Also, as the telecom industry becomes more mature, it will move from large-scale hiring, that the sector has witnessed over the last few years, towards steady-state hiring with stronger focus on specialized roles.
"New management graduates (to get into the telecom sector) have to face the challenge of finding employment opportunities, but once they enter the industry, growth is inevitable due to the growing manpower needs," Kaistha adds.
- Jatinder Singh, Principal Correspondent Light Reading India
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