Rishad Premji bullish on prospects of IT industry

NEW DELHI:  Despite global macro-economic challenges, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji is bullish and excited about the long-term prospects of the IT industry. He said India has grown from a low-cost offering destination to a true technology and business partner.

Speaking at the Global Investors Meet (GIM), being held in Bengaluru, Premji also said that the Indian IT industry has grown significantly, and it contributes about 8% to India’s GDP compared to less than 1% three decades ago. “My confidence is driven by two things- the rapid pace of digitisation across the world, and the shift in the mindset of stakeholders who engage with us as an industry,” he added.

Pointing out global spending on technology, he said it is set to double in the coming years. The IT industry has been logging over 20% attrition rate for many quarters now. Premji said companies are chasing the same pool of talent and that the industry has high attrition, and to address this one needs to find new locations and fresh sources of talent. Covid has shown us that the work can be done remotely and at scale. This will make it easier to widen the talent pool, especially women and people with disabilities who will benefit from the flexibility of remote work, Premji added.

Though there are many skilled workers instead of going to where the talent is, they are forced to migrate to the big cities where the jobs are. The Wipro Chairman lauded the efforts of the Karnataka government in setting up technology clusters in tier-2 and 3 cities.