Gen Z keen to work in the tech industry, says report
Here's your daily dose of key developments in the technology world of India.
Gen Z keen to work in tech industry: Report
The technology industry continues to be the sector of choice for the Gen Z community with over 70% of students finding it very aspirational and interested in taking up tech jobs, according to a report.
The report titled 'Gen Z and Millennials: Reshaping the Future of Workforce' by National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in partnership with Indeed noted that the tech industry will continue to attract quality talent. In fact, 79% of the Gen Z community surveyed are willing to spend more than two years in their first job provided employers provide them with the right value proposition.
As of 2021, India’s share of Millennials and Gen Z stood at 52%, higher than the global average of 47%. This trend is expected to maintain momentum till 2030 when the share of India’s Gen Z and millennial population will be 50 percent—higher than the world average of 46%.
WNS acquires two companies
WNS, a business process management company, has acquired two companies based in the UK and Poland, respectively, as it looks to strengthen its capabilities in the area of high-end procurement and advanced analytics.
WNS acquired London-headquartered The Smart Cube for a consideration of $125 million. The company provides digitally-led market intelligence and analytics solutions. It has over 800 employees.
The BPM company also acquired Warsaw-based OptiBuy for €30 million. OptiBuy is a provider of procurement platform consulting and implementation solutions. WNS has funded the up-front payments for these acquisitions with a combination of cash on hand and £83 million of long-term debt.
“Both of these companies possess unique, digitally-led/human intelligence capabilities which are complementary to WNS’ existing procurement and analytics offerings, and are also complementary with each other,” said Keshav R Murugesh, CEO, WNS,
ReNew Power signs 150 MW deal with Microsoft India
ReNew Power, a leading renewable energy company, has signed a renewable energy agreement of 150 MW with Microsoft India.
As part of the arrangement, ReNew will produce 150 MW of clean energy from a recently commissioned solar site near Bikaner. According to the company, the deal signifies that corporates globally, including India, are increasingly integrating renewable energy into their operations in every form, and this partnership further paves the way for innovative models that will accelerate the energy transition.
ReNew Power Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha said, “This venture will help contribute towards Microsoft’s ambition of shifting to 100% supply of renewable energy by 2025. For its part, ReNew is committed to being a catalyst for global energy transition and will continue to offer innovative solutions to companies to support their climate goals.”
Airtel IQ Hackathon winners
Bharti Airtel has announced the winners of the first-ever “Airtel IQ” hackathon. Gurugram-based Green Receipt, Frazor BFSI from Udaipur, and Delhi’s Vizard Info were declared winners by the jury.
The hackathon was launched in September this year with the objective of identifying and building new-age business solutions across five key sectors of the economy such as BFSI, retail and ecommerce, travel and hospitality, edtech, and contact centre which can potentially improve livelihoods and contribute to the sustainable and economic growth of the country.
The hackathon received over 9,000 entries confirming participation from students, corporates, and ISVs. These were further shortlisted to 300m and then to 23 in the semi-finals, from which 10 teams were invited to participate in a two-round finale.
The winners received a sum of Rs 20 lakh as a cash award and the best ideas amongst them are eligible to receive potential funding from Airtel’s startup accelerator programme. All the participants can leverage Airtel’s core platform strengths of data, distribution, network and payments besides its partner ecosystem.
