Are IT Sector Jobs Going Down ???!!!

             After trimming payroll and tightening perks to cope with the economic slowdown last year, software companies are finding that a rising number of engineering and management graduates are transferring their affections to vocations such as manufacturing and banking -- a shift that could force tech firms to scramble harder than ever before for talented employees.

For years, college graduates and professionals working in India's $50 billion (2.3 lakh crore) outsourcing sector moved from one tech firm to another, often getting 20-30 % higher salaries in the bargain. Now, recruitment experts and industry officials say the churn of experienced staff from IT to other sectors has increased by 15-20 % over the past year.

The main reasons, they say, are the perceived job security in the core sector and rising salary levels in manufacturing and telecom companies. Among those who made the switch is Amit Bhargava, 29, who quit his job as business analyst at one of India's top tech firms last month to join a multinational bank's technology centre in Pune.
The technology sector has not really lost its sheen, he says, but he wants to build specialist banking skills. "And it is not as prone to export risks," he adds, referring to his new vocation. Another reason for the shift away from IT companies is that they are now visiting college campuses for recruitment only during the eighth semester of the course, giving an opportunity to firms from other sectors to attract the best talent before them.

Software industry grouping Nasscom asked its members last year to recruit graduating students during their final, eighth semester and not disrupt academic sessions. Until two years ago, top Indian software firms competed aggressively with each other to hire engineering graduates. With the halo around working for a tech company beginning to fade, the competition is getting fiercer.

Infosys Technologies alone plans to hire 36,000 employees in the fiscal to March and its chief executive S Gopalakrishnan has listed the competition for talent as the industry's top challenge.