India’s IT sector, which has a significant presence in Europe, is gearing up to face the new requirements posed by the new GDPR regime.
The fast approaching deadline of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may not have seen a major spike in job offers, but recruiters expect up to 3,000 openings to arise once the regulation comes into force. The vacancies will be for capabilities that will help companies comply with the regulatory change.
Recruitment consultants that Moneycontrol spoke to said that at present only about 100-200 jobs are on offer for such roles and that too because of generic needs and not on account of GDPR. They added that the numbers will go up once GDPR comes into force and companies realise that the existing manpower is inadequate to meet the needs.
The GDPR is a new law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union and lays down the rules for transfer or export of data outside the EU. It will come into effect on May 25.
The main aim of the GDPR, as per its website, “is to protect all EU citizens from privacy and data breaches in an increasingly data-driven world”.
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“Under GDPR organisations in breach of GDPR can be fined up to 4 percent of annual global turnover or 20 million euros (whichever is greater). This is the maximum fine that can be imposed for the most serious infringements e.g. not having sufficient customer consent to process data or violating the core of Privacy by Design concepts,” the GDPR website explains.
The new rules also specify how data of EU citizens is kept and stored with third parties.
All over the world, companies that have business in EU, whether consumer or enterprise facing, will require an increased level of compliance with the new law, and have several checks and balances to deal with data protection and privacy.
Kamal Karanth A, co-founder of specialist staffing firm Xpheno said that there is not yet a big spike in the numbers and it is scattered. “Only when the GDPR Act comes into force will we see a spike in the hiring. It is anticipated that about 2,000-3,000 people will be required for this space post the Act.
This includes professionals in the data security and data privacy space. However, the plain fact is that we do not have adequate manpower in the country,” he added.
Though companies are making do with existing talent, Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR Services said that there is a lack of availability of people with the requisite skills in India. “Hiring is not in large numbers but India will catch up in due course.”
At present, the legal departments, cybersecurity professionals and information officers are building capability or looking at GDPR-related certifications to help organisations deal with the upcoming change.
India’s information technology sector, which has a significant presence in Europe, is gearing up to face the new requirements posed by the new GDPR regime.
Rituparna Chakraborty, Executive Vice President, TeamLease Services said that there is no sudden spike in the talent requirement. “IT companies are manned enough right now. They have suitable staff to meet the requirements. But it is a given that due to GDPR and otherwise, cyber security professionals are critical for companies and India has an under-supply.”