Info Edge CEO Hitesh Oberoi thinks US hiring slowdown is good for Indian firms, here’s why

Info Edge (India) Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Hitesh Oberoi is not too worried about the slowdown in the US, which has been a reason for worry as the country is one of the biggest markets for Indian IT services firms.

As the US tech giants go for mass layoffs, Oberoi told CNBC-TV18 India’s cheaper labour might be more attractive to American companies now.

“In the past what we have seen is, whenever there is a slowdown in the US, for a while, the Indian IT companies also get impacted,” Oberoi said.

“In the long run what happens is India is actually the submission because if the US companies what to cut costs, what do they end up doing? They end up outsourcing more jobs to India,” Oberoi said.

He expects the Indian IT market to pick up. “India is a solution, India is not the problem.”

Talking about Info Edge’s Q3 performance, Oberoi said that while recruitment revenues surged 40 percent on year in the October-December period, billings growth, which is more of a forward-looking metric than revenues, slowed meaningfully. This might be reflected in Q4 recruitment revenues.

One of the reasons for slow billings growth was a deceleration in IT hiring, which stemmed from the situation in the US, Oberio said.

The massive layoffs and hiring freezes across technology companies was weighing on Indian sentiment, which was possibly why IT companies were treading cautiously while hiring, he said.