Flexi-staffing gains traction in IT sector

BENGALURU: With the Indian IT sector finding it hard to find skilled workforce for new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence and cyber security, flexi-staffing solutions are in high demand. The flex-staffing industry could see a 14-16 per cent year-on-year growth till 2021, says a new report released by the Indian Staffing Federation here on Tuesday.

Flexi-staffing refers to the concept of contract staffing, where companies can source employees on project basis or for short-term contracts, instead of having to invest in permanent employees. As on date, the Indian flexi-staff industry is pitched at $3.04 billion, which is projected to touch $5.32 billion over the next four years. Currently, flexi-workforce constitutes 5.6 per cent of the total IT workforce.

According to the report, mobility, cloud computing and cyber security are the key technology drivers. As much as 55 per cent of Indian companies engage with IT flexi-staff for infrastructure management. Most organisations hire IT flexi-staff for a service tenure of 6-12 months. Karnataka is the largest IT flexi-staffing market at $1.05 billion, the report noted.

Even as the IT companies are struggling to meet the training requirements of employees in newer areas of technology, those in the staffing industry believe they can bridge this gap by providing employees trained in the relevant areas of technology.

“The IT industry relies a lot on contingent labour. The jobs in the sector are getting morphed... While the IT industry used to work on the concept of bench earlier, these days most companies are realising that the model is not competitive,” Rituparna Chakraborty, president, Indian Staffing Federation.