An IT, ITeS labour conundrum

The top 10 companies account for about 91 per cent of all employment among listed IT and/or ITeS firms and they make 92.4 per cent of all wage payments to them

According to CMIE’s Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS), information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (ITeS) together employed 1.78 million people in September 2021. The average for the quarter ended September 2021 was lower at 1.74 million. This is also lower than the average 1.9 million the industry employed in the quarter of June 2021. Emp­loyment in the IT and/or ITeS industry had peaked at 2.23 million in June 2021.

The IT and/or ITeS industry is a small employer. At about 2 million, it accounts for a mere half per cent of the total employment in the country. But, it