Every company wants to go digital so tech and digital talent is in demand, says Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO, Info Edge

Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO, Info Edge India Ltd, believes there are a lot of opportunities out there for people with the right skills. Every company wants to go digital, so tech and digital hiring talent continues to be in demand, he noted.

In an interview with CNBC TV-18, Oberoi spoke about the hiring picture in tech companies, their growth and prospects with respect to Coding Ninjas.

Commenting on demand-supply, he said, "Both demand and attrition were off the charts for the last seven quarters for most companies and that's really good for our business. Things are beginning to settle down; it's not easy to hire good people."

"People are becoming choosy. The startup scene has slowed down a little bit but there are still a lot of opportunities out there for people with the right skills. Every company wants to go digital, so tech and digital hiring talent continues to be in demand," he added.

Speaking about the overall offline economy, Oberoi said it has opened once again over the last six months. "Retailers, hospitality companies, travel companies, hotels… they had laid off people during covid but they're now bouncing back and hiring in large numbers once again," he said.

Answering a question about the share of tech hiring in revenue, he said it is at almost 50 per cent. "The share of tech hiring in our total revenue has increased over the last few years. Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad are primarily tech hiring markets, and parts of Gurugram and Noida, as well. The share of this segment in our overall revenue has increased in the last eight quarters because the pace of digitisation has increased globally," he said.

Quarterly performance

Speaking of Q1 and Q2 results, he said,"Last year our India hiring business grew by 60 per cent. In the first quarter of this year we saw an acceleration of 80%. For the second quarter, we haven't announced the results but there is a slow down compared to the previous quarter. But we're still not complaining, it's still pretty solid."

On FY23 numbers, he spoke about how FY23Q1 was better than Q4 of last year. "Till Q1 things were rosy, Q2 has slowed down a bit. It's unclear right now how Q3 and Q4 will pan out. A lot will depend on what happens in the rest of the world," he said.

He explained the relationship between IT markets and the global and US markets in general. "The IT market not only sees the global economy but also the US economy. So, a lot will depend on what happens in the US. In the past we've seen India is actually a solution. When there is a recession in the US, there is a lull in hiring, but over time, more and more work is offshored to India. So, fingers crossed on what will happen going forward," he said.

Taking about Info Edge and its ventures in real estate, he said that for the first time in a long time prices have gone up in segments. "We're seeing the rental market look up; commercial real estate is coming back because companies are getting back to work. The market is now delicately balanced. One doesn't want prices to go up much because if real estate becomes unaffordable, a lot of people will leave the market," he said.

Other initiatives

Speaking about various other initiatives, he said, "The recruitment business is very profitable right now and growing rapidly as well."

"We're investing in our real estate vertical against our matrimony business. We acquired a dating site some time back. We've ventured into the study-abroad market in our education business, and we just upped our stake in (learning platform) Coding Ninjas from 25% to 51%."

Oberoi also spoke about Info Edge’s long-term plans, which include deeply integrating with Coding Ninjas to transform Naukri from a job site into a career platform that helps people find jobs and also helps them in the job search.