Automation and the new US administration were the big unknowns at the Indian tech sector`s annual shindig this week, with machines threatening to take away thousands of jobs and concerns over possible visa rule changes in the key American market. Trump’s ascension in part has been credited to his strong views on immigration as well as his strong rhetoric on H-1B visas. However, while H-1B and outsourcing were frequent campaign issues used by him during the Republican primary season, they were more or less absent from his key election campaigns later. Though during the last leg of his campaign, he slammed IBM for sending jobs abroad. The threat from automation killing jobs is more than Trump`s anticipated visa rule changes. NASSCOM chairman and Tech Mahindra CEO C.P. Gurnani said technology would create new roles where "man will manage machines," even if a fourth of Indian IT jobs were to be replaced by machines over the next four years.Hiring patterns may also change, with unconventional, high-value graduates likely to be more attractive, to the possible detriment of hiring from India`s engineering colleges.
