Here’s how Donald Trump's presidential win will affect Indian outsourcing sector

US President-elect Donald Trump, in his 15-point poll agenda, had vowed to give back jobs to Americans. If Trump fulfils his promises, it is going to hit the Indian outsourcing industry.

The Indian outsourcing industry is reliant on North America as the region brings up to 60% of the $82bn software export revenue for the industry.

Zinnov, a consulting firm, stated there will be increased pressure from the US and this will push Indian outsourcing to look for markets elsewhere.

“More serious attempts must be undertaken to enter the next orbit of service delivery, focusing aggressively on value addition through digital transformation, setting up delivery centers in low cost talent pockets in the US, acquiring US based technology services & consulting companies and partnering with startup ecosystem to stay relevant in the US technology business,” it stated.

Meanwhile, this could also spell troubles for the US as curbing the number of visas would cause troubles to the US companies due to the lack of US born employees with adequate skills in STEM.

There is a shortfall of skilled labour within the US- demand-supply gap of 3.5 million Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates in the US. The number of immigrant STEM graduates was up from 16% or 3.4 million in 2013 to 18% or 5.2 million in 2015.

“It will be imperative though, for IT services providers to focus a lot more aggressively on value addition by moving up the value chain to stay relevant in the US market. Large outsourcers will continue to derive a significant share of revenue from the US market and will attribute the growth to a combination of offshore delivery efficiencies through automation and job creation in the US itself,” it stated.