Hyderabad: The Digital Skills and Salary Primer 2024-25 report released Tuesday said the tech sector might get a salary raise of 8% to 15% in 2024 in specialised areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Data, Cybersecurity, and Cloud. This surge, the study said, underscores the growing demand for specialised skills in these cutting-edge areas, driven by rapid technological advancements.
It noted how the hiring market for freshers was stabilising at 19%-20% and the demand for experienced professionals going strong at 40%. The report forecasts a widening demand-supply gap of 1.4 to 1.9 million digital professionals by 2026. Its projects suggest digital skills currently accounting for 33% of the tech skill set will grow over 40% by FY 2025.
As for gender diversity, the report said the female workforce will grow from 16.8 lakhs to 21 lakhs between 2022 and 2025. The male workforce will see an accretion to 38.9 lakhs from 34.2 lakhs. New sectors like EVs, semiconductors, manufacturing, and BFSI, will add more jobs, the report said, adding that the government’s initiatives to bridge the existing 21.1% skill gap will also aid in that.
'Gender pay gap'
The study revealed that there is a persistent gender pay gap in the tech industry, ranging from 10-17 per cent on average and sometimes reaching 22-30 per cent for roles like Data Analysis. Of the 20.5 lakh women tech professionals in India, a fraction, 10,000 women tech professionals work in the non-tech industry.
'Growth of GCCs'
Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India are offering up to 20 per cent higher salaries as compared with the IT services, especially at entry and mid-levels, it said. India, the report said, has over 1,600 GCCs employing over 1.66 million professionals. It is poised to welcome 800 new GCCs in the next 5-6 years, which shows the country's growing prominence as a global tech hub.
'What are GCCs?'
GCCs are centralised units established by multinational companies to manage specific business functions or processes, leveraging cost advantages, a skilled workforce, and favourable business environments in strategic locations worldwide. GCCs play a vital role in driving efficiency and innovation across sectors such as IT, finance, and research and development, the report explained.
'GCC Vs Tech Sector'
"GCCs are rapidly surpassing the IT sector in the talent market, especially at entry and mid-levels. They offer salaries that are, on an average, 12-20 per cent higher than those in IT services and non-tech industries," TeamLease Digital CEO Neeti Sharma said quoting the report.
This wage premium underscores the growing influence of GCCs as they attract top talent from the IT sector to fuel their expansion, signalling a shift in market dynamics where GCCs are emerging as the dominant force, the CEO said.
The report is based on an analysis of 15,000 job roles from the three sectors, including GCCs, IT services and non-tech sectors. Currently, in GCCs, there are more opportunities for people with 0-10 years of experience. The report further showed that there is a growing trend of setting up GCCs in tier-II cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Vadodara, which indicates a geographical diversification of tech opportunities across the country.
Skills that are seeing an increasing demand in GCCs are PyTorch, AWS, DevOps, NLP, Kubernetes, Hyperledger Fabric, Blockchain, Tableau, SQL, and ServiceNow, the report added.
In the IT products and services sector, cloud investment is set to grow by 25-30 per cent in the next 5 years, it said. IT products and services are expected to account for 8 per cent of India's GDP by 2026 and create 14 million jobs by adopting cloud solutions, underlining the sector's potential for economic impact, the report read.
The tech talent pool in this non-tech sector is also expected to expand annually at 7.86 per cent, reaching 11.15 lakh by FY27 from 7.65 lakh in FY22, highlighting the increasing integration of technology across various traditional industries, the report said.
