Tech giants turn to untapped talent in tier 2 & 3 cities in new twist

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Apple are expanding their workforce in India and are recruiting for talent in places like Hubbali, Dharwad. Apple is not alone, there are many other large multinationals which are hiring in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India. Focus on new areas such as electric vehicles and electronics manufacturing are driving job opportunities in these regions, staffing firms said.

Amid slowdown in big tech and IT hiring, demand for tech jobs in other sectors is up, led by demand from non-metros, experts added. Sectors like telecom, consumer electronics, retail and banking are expanding the scope of job opportunities for tech professionals living away from the metros and mini-metros, as 5G rollout continues at pace, and enterprises continue their focus on digitalisation of operations, they said. A few weeks earlier, Apple had advertised for a design architecture role in Hubbali, the company is also currently actively recruiting in other cities.

Apple did not respond to queries on its hiring plans at press time. Profiles in demand across businesses include those with skills in corporate cloud networks and SaaS as enterprises look to diversify their offerings beyond traditional IT and business process outsourcing. “Over the last couple of years, tier-2 and tier-3 cities have gradually come up the ranks to feature in India’s employment mix,” said Sanjay Shetty, director, professional search and selection, Randstad India.

This is largely due to the growing availability of skilled talent in deeper corners of the country and the strong and consistent investments in infrastructure development in these regions, he added. “We are seeing an uptick in global tech firms setting up bases in these cities and actively hiring fresh talent. These firms