IT companies may shed 40,000 mid-level staff says Mohandas Pai

New Delhi, Nov 19: India's information technology services companies may shed 30,000 to 40,000 middle-level employees this year as growth slows down, IT industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai said.

The former chief financial officer of IT major Infosys Ltd termed these job losses as once-in-five-years normal phenomenon with maturing of the industry.

"As in all sectors in the West, in India too when a sector matures so many people will be there in the middle level who will not be adding value to the salary they get," Pai said.

Promotions are okay when companies are growing fast but when it slows down, people getting fat salaries will aggregate at the higher level, prompting companies to periodically reset their pyramids, and shedding people, he said.

"It's going to happen again and again and again every five years," said Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education Services.

"Nobody is entitled to a fat salary and high-paying job unless you perform, right? You have to deliver value".

"All across industry, may be 30,000 to 40,000 in a year ... ," he said when asked about the number of middle-level staff who would lose their jobs.

But Pai said about 80 per cent of those who lose jobs would have employment opportunities in industries in general if they are specialists.