Tech is a clich if ever there was a one, especially in the context of India -- one of the largest importers of the commodity. Even as crude oil keeps roiling inflation in the country of nearly 1.4 billion people, it is the information technology sector that is the largest contributor to the story of India, through its exports and brand presence.
Regardless of the uncertainty unleashed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the inflation spiral that is biting consumers in the most advanced economies and the pressure on the global trade order, the Indian IT sector continues to be on firm footing. Growth may slow down as consumer demand weakens globally, but Tech Mahindra, CP Gurnani's MD CEO, believes that even though these tough times, the tech sector has a better outlook than others because commerce has moved to digital.
It is only in the fitness of things that HCL Technologies and Wipro Ltd are two notable Indian IT brands that have thousands of non-Indian employees on their payrolls and continue to expand and grow their business, as well as the larger industry pavilions at the promenade near the World Economic Forum congress centre in Davos.
C. Vijayakumar, the MD CEO of HCL Technologies, said that his company has increased the hiring of local talent in nearly 80 per cent of the countries it operates in globally as macroeconomic uncertainties weigh on decision makers in global firms. He says that while Indian employees will be required, as all skill levels are not available in foreign markets, IT visas and going abroad are obsolete. He said that India will continue to do big business with the United States, and that is a new reality. In response to my question, he said that work from anywhere. While I am not sure what that would mean in the long run for the American dream of many Indian youngsters in engineering schools across the country. The US will remain the largest market for Indian IT firms and account for over half of their annual revenues, according to Kumar.
On a separate note, Chairman of Wipro Ltd, Rishad Premji, told my colleague, Rahul Kanwal that nearly 45 per cent of his workforce has not worked in company offices. This year, a company that is hiring 40,000 people, is in a time when demand for tech engineers is high and supply is finite.
Gurnani summed it up well with remarks on how perception has changed about India. An Indian delegation led by the late Arun Jaitley came to Davos many years ago when the Narendra Modi administration came to power. People didn't take him seriously. Today, the same people know India will grow at 8 -- 9 per cent compared to the world at 3 per cent.