With manpower supply improving, industry body NASSCOM said on Thursday that wages of IT and BPO workers would see moderation beginning next year. “Clearly, the intent of the industry is to moderate”, NASSCOM chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said on the sidelines of a quality summit here. According to him, wages have gone up by 12-15 per cent annually across major IT and BPO industries in the last 2-3 years.

Narayanan said manpower supply side has been improving thanks to various initiatives taken by companies themselves as well as NASSCOM, and proactive academic institutions in coming out with more seats and disciplines, and starting of IT finishing schools. The availability of capacity was increasing, he said.

In Tamil Nadu alone, there are 10,000 engineering seats going vacant this year. “It’s a never-before situation. As talent and workforce development take roots, you will see moderation in wages. We will see the beginning of this trend (moderation of wages) next year itself. Overall, the demand-supply gap is more or less balanced”, Narayanan said.