20-22 lakh IT professionals expected to leave their jobs by 2025: TeamLease report

The IT-BPM industry's attrition troubles are expected to continue in the near future, according to a TeamLease Digital report, which said that 20-22 lakh techies are expected to leave their jobs by 2025. One of the report's findings was that a lack of quality management or leadership is a major factor in higher employee disengagement.

The TeamLease Digital report, titled 'Brain Drain: Tackling the Great Talent Exodus in IT Sector,' said the industry's attrition rate is at 25.2 percent for 2022. It also expressed concern about the contract staffing industry, predicting that attrition in this sector will be at 50-55 percent in FY23, up from 49 percent in FY22.

According to the report, techies are likely to move away from traditional companies and into non-IT sectors as digitalisation has created more opportunities and jobs.

“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.

Chemmankotil said that with the pandemic disrupting the IT hiring chain, “there is evidence of a reverse trend which indicates that retaining a business-critical talent has undergone a great change in the last two years”. The survey indicated that 57 percent of IT professionals would not consider returning to the IT services sector in the future.

According to the report, one of the most common misconceptions is that increasing salary or perks is the only way to improve job performance. While employees will accept a pay increase, employee needs and priorities have changed, such as the desire for flexibility, career growth, and employee value proposition. Employees are reevaluating their jobs on these grounds and quitting well-cushioned jobs, the report said.

“With the usual demand for salary hikes and other benefits, the main attraction for employees in their new jobs is ‘Great Reflection’ on the internal policies and external factors that should be relooked at by employers as we are viewing great changes in the employees’ feelings about work and life,” he said.

According to TeamLease Digital, the industry is expected to grow from 50 lakh to 1 crore people in the next few years, with multiple opportunities for job seekers.

“With the industry expected to grow two-fold over the next few years, we expect organisations will continue to lose their top talent and it would be very difficult to retain them without any strong measures,” said Siva Prasad Nanduri, Chief Business Officer, TeamLease Digital.

Elevated attrition has remained a source of concern for IT majors, and while it has peaked, it remains high. TCS' attrition rate for the quarter ended June 30 was 19.7 percent, Infosys' was 28.4 percent, Wipro's was 23.3 percent, and HCL's was 23.8 percent.