IT Job Attrition Is Worrying as 25% of Techies Will Resign by ‘25

IT job attrition has become worrisome with 20-28% of brain drain at major IT companies

Finally, work-life balance has found its place in the priority list of work-savvy techies to the extent it is making them think about quitting well-cushioned IT sector jobs. A report released by TeamLease Digital titled, 'Brain Drain: Tackling the Great Talent Exodus in IT Sector,' indicated a significant increase in IT job attrition with around 25.2% of employees quitting their IT jobs. Also raising concerns about the contract staffing industry, it predicted that attrition in this sector will be at 50-55% in 2023, raising from 49% in 2022.  Given the growing digitalization of every industry on earth, a good enough number of doors have opened for them to seek employment in non-IT sectors. "Tech talent in non-tech companies will see 3X growth in the coming years, opening up approx 1 mn new tech jobs by 2025. This will lead to further shifts of IT talent from traditional companies in the near future," said Sunil Chemmankotil, CEO of TeamLease Digital. According to the report, the IT job attrition rates have come down from the peak, the current scenario is not worth relaxing. IT industry job attrition rate has been worrisome with Major IT companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL clocking around 20 to 28% attrition rates in the last three months.

Its research paper minces no words to state that pay hikes and perks will not help companies to keep employees' morale while the management style and leadership do not act up to the employees' occupational requirements and career growth. Even though regular pay hikes could keep the employees happy, thanks to the pandemic, the parameters of the sense of self-worth have changed over time. While nearly half of the respondents stated lack of better compensation and benefits as the top reason for leaving a company, 25% mentioned employee disengagement and lack of career growth as a prime mover of talent to other industries.

Pointing to the disruption caused by the pandemic, Chemmankotil says, "There is evidence of a reversal in trend which implies that keeping a business-critical talent has experienced a major transformation in the previous two years". Realizing what they have been losing all the time, they are searching for opportunities that can provide what they actually want ie., flexibility, career growth, and employee value proposition.

India's $227 billion IT industry currently employs around five million people. Teamlease surveyed 700 employers and 6,000 employees. Around 57% of the surveyed IT employees said working in the IT industry is off their radar as they would want to opt for new career alternatives and challenging roles.

Teamlease Digital predicts that the digital industry is about to grow from 50 lakh to 1 crore in the coming few years. And as parting advice, it suggests that unless IT companies ramp up the organization's hiring strategies, with goals for employees and their betterment, the IT employee attrition will only escalate. Making the employees feel valued in their work and not consider them as mere tools for others' benefit will determine how the IT human- resource eco-system will shape up.  "A fundamental change in the employment value proposition leads to deeper employee-employer relationships, a strong sense of owning, and purpose-driven work," Chemmankotil laments.