Coming after a forgettable year of hiring freeze, layoffs and salary cuts, the recruitment drive in the IT space is led by biggies such as Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.

An analysis of the hiring plans announced by various Indian IT companies shows that headcount in the industry is expected to go up by more than 98,000.

According to analysts, increased spending on IT infrastructure and improving overseas markets for outsourcers, are among the main factors for the upbeat hiring prospects.

Diptarup Chakraborti, who is a Principal Research Analyst at global IT research firm Gartner said the industry is back on track with many projects lined up for completion.

“The industry has turned the corner and renewed optimism will bring back recruitment across the globe,” he noted.

Last week, the country’s largest software exporter TCS said it would increase headcount by 30,000 in next fiscal year while Infosys announced plans to hire 16,000 people this year.

Of the 12 companies which have announced their hiring plans, BPO giant Genpact said it would hire 10,000 people. Besides, IBM is looking at recruiting 5,000 followed by Infosys BPO (2,000), Accenture (8,000) and Mphasis (2,000).

Going by Gartner estimates, the domestic IT market is expected to grow by 19-20 per cent in 2010, a sharp rise against a 2.6 per cent growth in 2009.

While the Korean electronics major has just employed close to 300 people across divisions, it has also roped in Anish Kapoor from Tata Teleservices as sales head of the CDMA mobile phone business. Two senior people have joined from Videocon — Amit Gupta will head the channel strategy of the consumer electronics business while PK Gupta is VP (finance and accounts).

While Samsung has hired 100 people in the sales and marketing function over the past two months, it soon plans to recruit another 100 people. “We are recruiting additional manpower so that we can meet our ambitious business plans,” says Samsung India VP (corporate HR) Sanjay Bali.

Mohandeep Singh has been hired from Philips Electronics to head sales planning & operations of the mobile business.

our sales function can be strengthened and primarily in the sales and marketing functions. The move is in line with the company’s plans to enhance distribution and reach across product divisions like consumer electronics, IT and telecom.

On the manufacturing side, Samsung has recruited 100 employees each at its Noida and Chennai plants for the new AC production lines that have recently been set up.

Each of these lines has a production capacity of 0.6 million units per annum, taking the total production capacity for split ACs to 1.2 million units per annum. While the Noida AC unit will cater to North and East, the Chennai plant will cater to West and South markets.

Samsung India had clocked sales of $2.2 billion in 2009.

The state IT department has announced completion of all formalities pertaining to acquisition of the 451 acres required for TechnoCity. In addition to 205.11 acres of land acquired by June 2009, 245.89 acres have been acquired since then, completing the land acquisition exercise. Officials said the state government had finalized the rehabilitation package for evictees affected by the project.

TechnoCity is proposed to be a complete IT city, with space set aside for residential, commercial, hospitality, medical and educational facilities, besides the infrastructure for IT/ITES companies. Officials said the project would be a self-dependent satellite city, without putting a constraint on the resources and infrastructure of the state’s capital.

Kerala IT principal secretary Ajay Kumar said, that in addition to IT, focus areas of TechnoCity would be biotechnology, nano technology, high-end manufacturing and R&D. He said the entire project would be developed through multiple special purpose vehicles, in association with leading developers, adding that TechnoCity would be an integrated township.

Technopark CEO Mervin Alexander said land acquisition for the project was completed without any major hiccups. He said Technocity was a fast track project and that the project would now gain momentum and work on infrastructure development like power, water supply and internal roads would be undertaken immediately.

Technopark is also developing its Phase III campus in a 90-acre area with both SEZ and non-SEZ space. Under its hub-and-spokes model, Technopark is also developing its first spoke unit at Kundara in Kollam district.

Cut to 2010. Mr Snow no longer feels like the odd man out, as Indian IT firms in the US aggressively move in to recruit local talent, partly to suit their growth plans, and partly to assuage concerns triggered by rising joblessness in the US.

In the past 12-18 months, around 15,000 US professionals have joined Indian firms across function, from entry-level customer care to senior level sales and consulting positions. And like Mr Snow, most of them had never worked with an Indian company before.

IT veterans that ET spoke to say this trend would gather strength in the coming months, as Indian players strive to address concerns over flight of jobs, besides strengthening their own onsite services delivery capability.

Indian IT’s umbrella body, Nasscom, sees US protectionism as a key issue that could slow down growth of the $50-billion technology outsourcing business, spurring Indian companies to hire more local talent. The US market accounts for 61% of the business for Indian services providers.

Today, locals comprise about 30% of the Indian IT employee base of over 100,000 in the US. This is up from just a few hundreds 4-5 years ago, when most onsite needs were met by flying out engineers from India on H1B visas and the local talent was sought only for a few consulting type jobs.

“It’s also a sign of evolution and maturity of the industry. More Indian companies will be creating onsite jobs and hiring local talent as the industry expands,” says Pramod Bhasin, chairman of Nasscom & CEO of Genpact, India’s largest business services provider.

The onsite jobs include client interfacing functions like consulting, sales, solutions requirements and solutions deployment while the manpower intensive testing, coding and maintenance work gets done from remote locations, mainly out of India. Infosys has over 11,000 employees in the US and Wipro has 7,000, about a third of who are local Americans.

Wipro also opened a new office in Atlanta this fiscal. “We intend to localise more and almost all the 1,000 positions in the Atlanta office will be staffed by local hiring,” says Saurab Govil, senior vice-president, HR, Wipro Technologies. Last year, TCS hired at least 300 associates in the US and in its new facility at the Cincinnati suburb of Milford which can accommodate 1,000 associates.

Genpact has 1,500 people in the US, 90% local Americans, in cities like Wellsburg, California and Danville in Illinois. Of its 27,000 employees, Firstsource has 4,000 staff in the US (all Americans) and the $200-million Mumbai-based services player Mastek’s top management team is mostly American, based out of the US. Last year, it hired 350 local services delivery professionals as well.

“As the industry has grown bigger, there’s lot more need for long-term staff. This need is being met by local hiring. At the same time,
short-term assignments are done by a combination of locals and flying out staff from India,” says TV Mohandas Pai, member of board and director, HR, Infosys Technologies.

The present spurt in hiring locals is due to a combination of the “economic slump and more easily available talent”, says Ameet Nivsarkar, VP, Nasscom. In fact, most Indian companies hire local talent in what are Tier II cities in the US like Arkansas, St Antonio, Tampa, Kansas City, Alabama, and Buffalo.

Talent here is 15-20% cheaper than in big cities, understands the requirements, needs no training to start and service providers creating local jobs are more favourably looked at when pitching for business.

“For a lot of government and healthcare projects awarded in the past six months, customers prefer a US presence. Hence, the number of locals has gone up,” says Rishi Das, CEO, CareerNet Consulting, a Bangalore-based search firm.

According to Firstsource’s MD & CEO Ananda Mukerji, for certain processes like healthcare, records can’t go out of the country and banks may prefer their platinum and gold customers to be served onshore. “As Indian providers now offer a complete gamut of technology to business services, many processes are getting done locally,” he says.

Firstsource has centres in Kansas, Colorado, Kentucky and Miami from where it does credit card, third-party debt collection and healthcare processes. “In the past 6-9 months, we have seen that clients are more keen if you have a large onsite presence as well,” he says.

Mr Pai of Infosys believes that as companies become bigger and capture the more critical pieces of the customers’ business, about 25% of the work will be done onsite, which will be met by local hiring rather than sending people on H1B visas. In fact, in 2008, TCS, Infosys and Wipro, three of the largest Indian technology services companies, together had over 10,000 H1B visas. In 2009, the figure was less than 2,000.

Sid Pai, managing partner, TPI, a global sourcing advisory firm, sums the trend up saying that one would have to live with the idea of lower margins eventually. “As the industry expands, it will have to learn to deliver operations in consuming countries as well and live with lower margins, it’s part of the growth story,” he says.

Intel is giving a Special Thank You bonus that’s either $1,000 or $500 depending on the country where they employee is based. Employees in India will get $500 (about Rs 23,000), just like those in China , Malaysia, Russia, etc. Employees in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, etc. will be richer by $1,000 (Rs 47,000). The bonus is said to be uniform across all grades within a country and will be paid out between December 18 and December 31. The bonus is said to be a mark of appreciation for outstanding work in 2009.

Intel employees in India got an email on Thursday morning about it. This bonus is in addition to the annual ‘employee bonus’ given in January and the ‘employee cash bonus’ given in August. According to an employee who didn’t want to be named, “This has come as a pleasant surprise because this year the annual hikes were not given and there were no promotions either.”

Siddharth A Pai, MD, TPI Advisory Services, said it was not surprising that companies had started to give variable pays and bonuses. “Basically , it’s a recognition of the fact that the market has begun to turn around. It also indicates there’s a significant number of deals in the pipeline waiting to materialize . Hence, companies need to keep employees happy. The work load too is expected to increase next year,” he said.

Zinnov Management Consulting , currently working on its annual ‘Annual compensation benefit survey for MNC R&D centres in India’ in January, says early trends indicate that MNCs are either looking at giving one-off bonuses or bringing forward the annual April appraisal cycle. One needn’t wait till April to be appraised, as this process could kick in as early as January 2010.

Further, the report suggests that many MNCs are also thinking on the lines of an interim pay hike, as almost all companies either deferred or gave a small hike in April this year.

It’s unclear how many of Shell’s 13,000 employees in Houston will be affected by the migration plans. Partly, that’s because company officials are still deciding which jobs will stay or go abroad, and are rolling out the plans in phases that run into next year. But at least a few divisions in Houston are preparing to be downsized dramatically.

Major oil companies including Shell, ConocoPhillips and BP have been cutting jobs, capital spending budgets and other costs in response to the global economic downturn that has sapped demand for petroleum products like gasoline and diesel fuel. But Shell’s migration programmes could have broader implications for Houston .

Shell, which is based in The Hague, with US headquarters in Houston, has been involved in a major downsizing since Voser replaced Jeroen van der Veer as CEO in July. By year end, the company plans to cut 5,000 employees, or 10% of its global workforce, under a reorganisation he calls Transition 2009.

The process which merged the company’s three upstream businesses into two, expanded its downstream group and added a new projects and technology division trimmed management ranks by 20% and has forced 15,000 Shell employees to reapply for a smaller pool of jobs.

The company recently told employees within its finance division that some of their jobs are being relocated from Houston and Calgary, Alberta, to finance operations centre in Manila and Chennai. Spokesman Bill Tanner said foreign shared service centres are key to improving the finance unit’s competitiveness.

If IIT-Bombay has placed 250 students(that’s one-and-half times more than last year), IIT-Kanpur has placed 200 students in 30 companies, IIT-Roorkee’s 150 students got job offers this season compared to just 70 students in 2008 while IIT-Madras has placed 170 students compared to 130 in the corresponding period last year.

The major recruiters from these campuses were Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu which recruited an average of 20 students from across the different IITs, Oracle and Credit Suisse, 15 and 13 students respectively and Indian Oil Corporation signed on around 10 students.

Till now highest payer has been Tower Research Capital which recruited nine students and has paid a CTC of Rs 22 lakh (this can go up to Rs 43 lakh if performance bonus is added). Schlumberger which has been the highest paymaster till last year (Rs 36 lakh CTC) is yet to come on campus.

At IIT Kharagpur, which has gone into placements with some 1,341 students across undergraduate and post graduate streams, over 200 students have been made job offers so far. Of these, 103 have been bagged by B.Tech and B.Arch students.

“Over 25 per cent of them have been placed so far,” says IIT Kharagpur prof-in-charge training and placements SK Srivastava. In 2008 when the market was going through a slowdown phase, all these institutes were able to place around 70-80 per cent students by the end of the placement process which ran into June this year(2009) despite being among the best technology schools in the country.

“Last year, when companies were cutting down on jobs, despite faring the best amongst other institutes we were able to place one-and-half times less the number of students placed this year till now,” says Prof Ravi Sinha, chairperson, placement, IIT-Bombay.

IIT-Madras has seen 40 companies visiting and a major recruiter has been Credit Suisse. The highest package offered till now at IIT-Madras is Rs 26 lakh and the lowest Rs 7 lakh which is higher than last year’s average package of Rs 5 lakh.

This year a new profile that students are interested in is clean energy and efficient technology and hence companies like NTPC and Modile Thermal are expected to get good response when they visit the campus in the coming days.

Prof PK Jain, chairperson, placement, however explains the trend with a cautious approach. “This year its been really good, still we have not reached the levels of 2006-07 when students had several options to choose from.’’

Last year about 10 per cent of the students opted for start-ups. This year the figure might dip as lot of large companies have made a comeback to the campus.

According to a global survey conducted by consulting firm Manpower, India topped the list of countries in intention to recruit for the January-March period next year. The survey showed that Indian companies are more bullish about the future, with the number for January-March period reporting increased intention to hire than the quarter ending December 2009.

The service sector witnessed the biggest jump in hiring intent, with 20 points over the last survey. Bullish hiring intention was also spotted in sectors such as public administration, education, mining and construction. Companies in finance, insurance and wholesale & retail trade also reported strong hiring intent.

The weakest hiring pace was reported by employers in the transportation and utilities sectors, where less than 30 per cent of the employers showed an inclination to hire in the three-month period. However, all the sectors recorded an increase in hiring intent compared with the year ago period.

“As Indian employers continue to express growing confidence, we are witnessing improved opportunities for job seekers across all industry sectors. Employers indicate that hiring in India’s service sector will accelerate at a dynamic pace in the coming months,” said Naresh Malhan, managing director of Manpower India.

The survey, which covered more than 5,100 employers across 30 cities in India, revealed that India’s net employment outlook stood at 39 per cent, the highest in the world. This is an increase of 11 points over the last quarter of 2009.

The net employment outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase, minus the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location in the next quarter. It also takes into consideration the seasonal adjustments in employment.

Among the various sectors in the country, services has emerged strongest in hiring intentions, with nearly half of the companies surveyed expecting to hire in the January-March period.

At the regional level, employers in the North reported the strongest hiring intentions, where nearly one in every two employers said they plan to hire. Employers in the West and the East reported equal hiring intentions followed by the South. Hiring intent has improved across all regions in the latest survey.

The global survey also said that employers in 25 out of 35 countries reported positive hiring intentions for Q1. The most optimistic employment forecasts after India were reported by employers in Brazil, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia.

This is understandable. Someone who has just lost a job may be accustomed to a workplace with its schedules and deadlines, and its expectant bosses and co-workers. If you fail to finish an important assignment, you’ll hear about it.

Compare that with post-layoff life. You can assign yourself tasks, but no one will come after you if you don’t finish them. When you get up in the morning, it can seem as if a long clean carpet of time is ahead of you, but then you may decide to go to the gym, have a leisurely lunch, take a nap, check out “Dr Phil” on TV followed by “Judge Judy,” and then you’re ready to make dinner.

Or you may engage in a whirlwind of sending e-mail messages, Googling, calling and appointment-making, only to realize that very little of it got you closer to finding a job.

“Having no structure is the biggest enemy to being organized and being focused,” said Julie Morgenstern, a productivity consultant in New York and author of “Time Management From the Inside Out.”

Job seekers should create specific work hours and a time map along with minideadlines, she said. Like many other experts, she recommends treating job hunting like a full-time job.

Looking for a job involves so many steps that trying to define and prioritize them can be overwhelming, said Kimberly Bishop, chief executive of a career management and leadership services firm in New York.

“I don’t think that there’s ever a time that the job search process is easy,” Bishop said. Because it is not something people tend to do on a regular basis, few people are truly skilled at it, she said, but “being prepared and having a plan and a process brings confidence.”

To begin, Bishop said, set aside a physical space for job hunting and devote from several days to a week solely on laying the groundwork for your search, she said. Too often, Bishop said, people fling themselves into making appointments and arranging interviews before they even have their resumes updated or know what kind of jobs they should realistically seek.

Prepare resumes, write sample cover letters, assemble your references, and put together samples of your work, she said. Compile an inventory of your skills, accomplishments and honors – Bishop calls this a “success folder” – ready to be shown or recounted during interviews.

“Once the job hunt gets started, it’s so easy to become overwhelmed with just the management and organization of the paperwork,” Bishop said. So create files, either paper or computer ones, to keep track of where you have applied and where you have had interviewed, she said.

You don’t want to have a recruiter or a human resources manager call you and find yourself saying: “Who did you say you were again? You say I applied there?”

After this initial preparation it’s time to get started in earnest. Morgenstern suggests dividing the day into three compartments: preparation and research, meetings, and follow-up.

“Mixing it up” this way can stop you from obsessing about things and from being paralyzed by perfectionism, she said. It is energizing and keeps you balanced, she added.

Bishop echoed this sentiment, saying it is dangerous to spend too much time on any one thing. Some people spend all their time in front of the computer sending unproductive e-mail messages and applying for jobs for which they aren’t qualified, she said (and that wastes the hiring manager’s time, too). Other people spend all day at networking meetings and informational interviews without doing the concrete work that leads to an actual application or an interview, she said.

Of course be flexible (don’t turn down a job interview to do research!), but Morgenstern put forth this sample day of varied activities: From 9 to 11, do background research on companies that you will be applying to or interviewing with. Research unconventional industries that may fit with your skills. Take an online career assessment test. Generate a list of contacts for networking purposes. Look up networking organisations.

Try to schedule a meeting every day, or five meetings a week, Morgenstern said. “These benchmarks keep you from becoming complacent or depressed” and keep you connected with the outside world, she said. Between 11 and 2 or 3, you might meet with a friend or former colleagues or a career counselor for lunch or coffee.

Then go home and do follow-up work, Morgenstern said. Send a thank-you e-mail message to the person you had lunch or coffee with and forward any articles or leads that you may have mentioned. Send your thank-you notes that day, she said. Do not put that off.

End every day by planning the next one, plus the two days after that, she said. This “three-day arc” puts your job search in context and enables you to pace yourself, she said.

“People are energised by getting things done,” she said. “Energy then begets more energy and more productivity.” That begets confidence.

Then, when you’re calling people on the phone or meeting with them, you radiate confidence and increase your chances of being hired, she said.

“Brisk hiring is anticipated by Indian employers during the upcoming quarter,” said the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

“With 38 percent of employers expecting total employment to increase, 2 percent forecasting a decrease and 53 percent predicting no change, the net employment outlook is a robust 36 percent,” it added.

“Once seasonal adjustment is added to the data, the outlook stands at 39 percent.”

The services sector is the most bullish on hiring followed by public administration, education, mining and construction, finance, retail and manufacturing.

“India has been reporting the strongest hiring expectations globally since the third quarter of 2008,” said Naresh Malhan, managing director of Manpower India.

“The good news is that employer hiring expectations across all industry sectors are improving in the first quarter of 2010, and job seekers in key sectors can look forward to the most favourable hiring environment in over a year,” he added.

India’s employment outlook in January-March is better than bigger economies including Australia at 19 percent, Canada at 13 percent, China at 11 percent, and the US at 6 percent.

The survey was conducted in 35 countries and regions including the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa among 71,000 employers. Employers in 25 of such territories surveyed are reporting positive hiring intentions for the next quarter.

Hiring in the next three months is expected to return to the pre-recession pace throughout much of the Asia Pacific region while job prospects continue to slowly improve in the Americas and in parts of Europe.

Hiring expectations are strongest in India, Brazil, Singapore, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Australia, Peru and Hong Kong and weakest in Ireland, Romania, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland.

In the 18 countries surveyed in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, hiring expectations are mixed, with employers in nine countries reporting positive activity for the quarter ahead.