Indian staff speak at The Quatrro call-centre in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi on December 10, 2008. AFP PHOTO/Findlay KEMBER / AFP PHOTO / FINDLAY KEMBER
Indian staff speak at The Quatrro call-centre in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi on December 10, 2008. AFP PHOTO/Findlay KEMBER / AFP PHOTO / FINDLAY KEMBER
Indian staff speak at The Quatrro call-centre in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi on December 10, 2008. AFP PHOTO/Findlay KEMBER / AFP PHOTO / FINDLAY KEMBER
Indian staff speak at The Quatrro call-centre in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi on December 10, 2008. AFP PHOTO/Findlay KEMBER / AFP PHOTO / FINDLAY KEMBER

Job losses on the way for Indian IT industry thanks to AI


  • English
  • Arabic

India has long been established as an outsourcing hub for firms across the world looking for low cost solutions to fulfil their IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) requirements. The sector has been one of the key growth industries for the country, creating much-needed employment in a country where the population is 1.3 billion strong, with around a million Indians entering the workforce every month.

But this is all set to change in the coming years, thanks to the rising use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). The IT services industry is set to lose 640,000 low-skilled jobs to automation by 2021, according to US-based HfS Research.

"Increasingly companies in the technology and IT space are looking at how to streamline processes, how to make sure themselves more efficient by using automation, by using technologies like [AI] and ensure that the turnaround time is much shorter," says Ninad Chhaya, the chief operating officer at WITS Interactive, a Mumbai-based company which develops software for companies globally in countries including the UK and Germany. Companies are "steadily" introducing automated processes in order to try to reduce the dependency manpower, he says.

The country's largest six employers in the IT outsourcing sector, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Wipro, experienced a modest decline in the size of their workforce in six months to the end of September, according to figures analysed by the Indian business newspaper Mint. The firms’ collective headcount stood at 1,243,777 at the end of September, compared with 1,247,934 people six months earlier.

_______________

Read more:

_______________

In terms of technology functions performed in the IT industry, automation and AI solutions can increasingly handle tasks that would previously have been done manually by people.

In the wake of such innovations, a number of companies are moving towards an increased reliance on chatbots and voice bots to answer enquiries by customers online and over the phone, which is likely to have huge ramifications for the BPO sector in India.

“It means that for a large number of people who are working in India as first responders, their jobs are going to be eliminated,” says Debashis Guha, the professor and director of machine learning at the SP Jain School of Global Management in Mumbai. “It is possible that if the Indian BPO companies do not take this as a challenge to scale up and go more towards the higher end of the spectrum, they are going to experience catastrophic loss of business. But I think that many of the BPO people that I encounter in Bangalore are quite alive to this possibility and they themselves are getting into chatbot start-ups and so on.”

Many companies are investing heavily to investigate various ways of using AI and automation to reduce the number of people required to perform tasks and improve efficiency.

“Customer service is a very human effort driven side of things, but we are now looking at how do we use [AI] and voicebots and chatbots to at least reduce the turnaround times from the first enquiries we get from our prospective clients to sharing the information they need and slowly and steadily convert it into a qualified lead for a particular project,” says Mr Chhaya at WITS.

Other initiatives that the company has introduced include automating some software testing processes, which used to be a much more labour intensive task, he explains.

“On the technology and development side, a lot of manpower is required to test the app, the game or the website, across devices, across browsers, we are now implementing automatic testing, which reduces not just the manpower requirement but also the time it takes to test a particular software product, helping us launch products in a faster manner,” he says.

A mobile app development project that would have needed four to six developers, would now require one to two fewer people, according to Mr Chayya.

Such a phenomenon is the latest in a series of headaches for India’s IT sector; there is uncertainty for employment prospects for trained software engineers in the US, amid the Trump administration’s move to crackdown on the H1B and L1 visas in a bid to safeguard American jobs. Brexit is another area of concern, which may force Indian outsourcing firms to adjust their operations in the European Union. In addition, there is growing competition from other countries including China, Brazil, and Philippines which are trying to grab a bigger share of the IT and BPO market.

Such competitors are unlikely to dethrone India anytime soon however. Consultancy AT Kearney in a recent report highlights that India's outsourcing sector is facing “challenges from advancements in technology” but that it remains in the top spot for outsourcing services globally, helped by its English-speaking skilled labour.

“Its attractiveness as a global services destination continues to increase with its growing cost advantage against the United States, and the improving performance of Indian students on standardised tests,” says Ajay Gupta, a partner at AT Kearney India. “The combination of these factors continues to strengthen India’s position as the destination of choice for companies looking to outsource business processes.”

Moreover, “advancements in technology” such as AI and automation can also provide fresh opportunities for Indian firms willing to embrace the trend, according to analysts.

Mr Guha notes that the “threat is also an opportunity,” with IT outsourcing firms increasingly being asked by their international clients to help them automate more processes.

Some of these companies “are going out and hiring people” with the skills to implement these functions and thereby jobs can be created if companies adapt, he said.

“While automation is expected to replace some jobs, it will also create new ones, that are required to manage mature technology, bringing higher salaries to workers,” says Mr Gupta at AT Kearney. “However, these roles require highly skilled workers. It is important that India ensures that its workforce employed in the sector continues to pick up new skills.”

For its part, the government is striving to portray India as a progressive technology hub and attract foreign investment into the sector to create jobs and try to ensure that the sector continues to thrive.

Meanwhile, Mr Chhaya knows all too well that his company will have to continue to keep up and even try to stay ahead of the quickly evolving trends, as India's outsourcing industry undergoes a transformation.

“As a whole the outsourcing game is rapidly changing,” he says. “It's all about how agile and nimble you are. Whether you're a big player or a small player, if you're not agile, if you're not nimble in your approach to rapidly changing market dynamics, it really puts you out of the game.”

Two products to make at home

Toilet cleaner

1 cup baking soda 

1 cup castile soap

10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice) 

Method:

1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.

2. Add the essential oil to the mix.

Air Freshener

100ml water 

5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this) 

Method:

1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.

2. Shake well before use. 

Company profile

Name: The Concept

Founders: Yadhushan Mahendran, Maria Sobh and Muhammad Rijal

Based: Abu Dhabi

Founded: 2017

Number of employees: 7

Sector: Aviation and space industry

Funding: $250,000

Future plans: Looking to raise $1 million investment to boost expansion and develop new products

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
  1. Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Why seagrass matters
  • Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
  • Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
  • Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
  • Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
If you go

The flights

There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.

The trip

Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.

The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.

 

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

Other must-tries

Tomato and walnut salad

A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.

Badrijani nigvzit

A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.

Pkhali

This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.

UAE's role in anti-extremism recognised

General John Allen, President of the Brookings Institution research group, commended the role the UAE has played in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.

He told a Globsec debate of the UAE’s "hugely outsized" role in the fight against Isis.

"It’s trite these days to say that any country punches above its weight, but in every possible way the Emirates did, both militarily, and very importantly, the UAE was extraordinarily helpful on getting to the issue of violent extremism," he said.

He also noted the impact that Hedayah, among others in the UAE, has played in addressing violent extremism.

The%20specs%3A%20Taycan%20Turbo%20GT
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDual%20synchronous%20electric%20motors%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C108hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C340Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%20(front%20axle)%3B%20two-speed%20transmission%20(rear%20axle)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E488-560km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh928%2C400%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOrders%20open%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mina Cup winners

Under 12 – Minerva Academy

Under 14 – Unam Pumas

Under 16 – Fursan Hispania

Under 18 – Madenat

Brief scores

Toss India, chose to bat

India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)

Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)

India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method

Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The%20US%20Congress%2C%20explained
%3Cp%3E-%20US%20Congress%20is%20divided%20into%20two%20chambers%3A%20the%20House%20of%20Representatives%20and%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20435%20members%20make%20up%20the%20House%2C%20and%20100%20in%20the%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20A%20party%20needs%20control%20of%20218%20seats%20to%20have%20a%20majority%20in%20the%20House%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20In%20the%20Senate%2C%20a%20party%20needs%20to%20hold%2051%20seats%20for%20control%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20In%20the%20event%20of%20a%2050-50%20split%2C%20the%20vice%20president's%20party%20retains%20power%20in%20the%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate? 
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties? 
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.