IT sector hiring likely to be muted this year: S Gopalakrishnan

Hiring activity in the IT sector is likely to be muted this year, Infosys Co-founder and Executive Co-Chairman S Gopalakrishnan has said.

"Hiring position seems to be muted this year because many companies still have deep bench (strength), in other words their utilisation rate is still low," he said.

The $100-billion India IT-ITES sector faced strong headwinds in 2012-13 due to global economic slowdown and muted spending in North America and Europe, which accounts for 80 per cent of Indian IT companies revenues.

Industry-body Nasscom expects a rise in global technology spending and opportunities created through adoption of disruptive technologies to propel growth in FY 2014.

Nasscom expects export revenues of $84-87 billion in 2013-14 fiscal at a growth rate of 12-14 per cent. Exports were estimated to have grown by 10.2 per cent to $75.8 billion in FY 2013.

The Indian IT industry, which contributes about 7.5 per cent to the country's economy, gives direct employment to 25 lakh people.