After a long hibernation of 18 months, headhunters are actively out in the market as talent requirements have started trickling in. The hiring momentum is expected to pick up from April onwards.

Even in a worst scenario, calendar 2010 will create around 50,000 fresh IT/ITES jobs against zero fresh jobs except a very thin campus hiring – in the previous year. The calendar 2007 had witnessed a bumper hiring at over 3 lakh while the growth got tapered off towards the third quarter of 2008 clocking a total hiring of only 1.8 lakh.

B S Murthy, CEO, Leadership Capital says the new year will usher in recovery and a wave of general optimism across segments. “This means a complete change from the current skeletal and need-based hiring. The large volume-hiring realm (services space) will warm up by the second quarter of calender 2010. A 15% increment in hiring volumes is expected in the first two quarters while the growth could cross 20% or double towards third and fourth quarter.”

According to Nirupama V G, MD, AdAstra, requirements will start pouring in like tsunami, HR departments of many corporates have already geared up for large scale hiring after a long standstill. “Normalcy will return to the industry by April. In addition to domestic hiring , India is going to emerge as a huge sourcing ground for global jobs across segments, positions and profiles.”

“When we enjoy a vantage position in human resources, talent is still a scare commodity in global markets. The year 2010 is going to be bright year for India in terms of domestic and global placements,” adds Mohan Menon, CEO, Sentient Consulting.