Bangaluru: Karnataka IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge on May 12 said the government is ready to involve the labor department to deal with the ongoing lay offs in the IT industry, if there is any formal complaint from employees.
Kharge’s statement assumes significance as there are reports coming from various companies on layoffs and exits after annual appraisal.
Interacting with DH on the sidelines of the three-day games, animation & visual effects industry conference GAFX, the minister said, “The fact is that the government can do little in this situation because these legal documents are signed between individuals and companies. There is no structured format in this industry compared with other industries like cement, coal and other manufacturing industries,” he said.
“Till now, I haven’t got any formal complaint from any employee or trade union working in this space. But here we should also look at the fact these employees will jump jobs as per their requirement and whenever they want,” he said.
The Indian IT industry is going through a bad patch as business got affected because of technology changes and political upheavals. Top IT companies have been planning to lay off several thousand IT workers over the next one year.
The IT&BT Minister said those who are unemployed can be redeployed by reskilling in other allied industries which are growing very fast. “Animation and gaming as an industry is growing 18% year-on-year, and there is a lot of demand for talents. The online mobile gaming itself in India is expected to be $1 billion by 2021,” he said.
Kharge also pointed out that the gaming industry was worth $360 million last year. “This conference provides a stepping stone for aspiring youth to make a career in the animation industry, along with providing learning opportunities for professionals,” he added.
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