Demand for IT skills in captive centres grew 22% in H2 FY21: Quess

Demand for IT skills in captive centres grew 22% between October 2020 and March 2021 in India, staffing and business solutions provider Quess Corp said in a report. 

Captive centres, according to the definition from research firm Gartner, are service delivery centres owned and operated by clients, typically in a non-domestic, low-cost location. They provide service resources directly to their organisation. The personnel in a captive facility are legal employees of the organisation, not the vendor. 

The quarter-wise trend from October-December 2020 to January-March 2021 indicates a significant spike in demand in IT security (up 166%), full stack (up 110%), Android developers (up 80%), data analytics (up 44.7%) and AngularJS (up 40%), as per the report. 

In fact, digital skills such as full stack, React JS, cloud infrastructure technologies, AngularJS, and Android developers were ranked among the top five, in that order. 

The sectors that pushed the demand from captive centres include banking and financial services, technology services and consulting, as well as auto and engineering, the report said.  

The highest demand, according to the report, was centered in Bengaluru, with 41% associates deployed. Other strong footholds were Hyderabad (14%), Chennai (11%), Mumbai (11%) and Pune (11%). 

Additionally, technology platforms such as Salesforce, SAP HANA, and ServiceNow also witnessed an increase in demand in the reported period, Quess said. 

“The demand for IT skill sets among captives in India has grown exponentially with organisations taking a skill-based approach while hiring their workforce. These trends showcase the evolving focus areas of the captives and large organisations as they build and transform their technology capabilities. Firms are increasingly seeking candidates who are agile, creative and skilled in this new era of work. In addition to core skill, possessing strong communication and soft skills as well as capabilities in both front end and back end technologies is becoming a key ask,” Vijay Sivaram, CEO of Quess IT staffing, said.