The IT Committee of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized an Online Panel Discussion on "IT as a Career Choice during the Pandemic" on 12th June 2020. The objective of the Session was to bring together leaders from the Industry and Academia and share a common platform with the students aiming to share an overview and feedback on job opportunities related to IT during the pandemic and henceforth.

More than 1200 students joined the Session across various online platforms and Social Media from over 15 institutes across the State. Adamas University Kolkata; Amity University, Kolkata; Asansol Engineering College; Bengal Institute of Technology and Management, Santiniketan; Brainware Group of Institutions; College of Engineering and Management, Kolaghat; Dinabandhu Andrews Institute of Technology and Management; Haldia Institute of Technology; Heritage Institute of Technology; Jadavpur University; JIS University; IIT Kharagpur; Pailan College of Management & Technology; Techno India; University of Calcutta are to name a few.

The eminent speakers: Mr. Arnab Basu, Chairperson, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Managing Partner, East and Technology Consulting Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Chiranjib Bhattacharya, Co-Chairperson, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber and CEO, Wizertech Informatics Pvt Ltd; Mr. Saugata Basu, Chief Technology & Digital Officer, Aditya Birla Group- Textiles ; Mr. Anindya Mitra, Director, IBM Global Business Services, India; Mr. C N Raghupathi, Senior Vice President. India Business Unit, Infosys and Prof. Chandan Mazumdar, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Jadavpur University graced the Session.

Mr. Arnab Basu, Chairperson, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Managing Partner, East and Technology Consulting Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd chaired the Session. Mr. Basu stated that it is a relevant time to bring the academia and industry together to create a credible forum to understand the realities of employment opportunities. Large part of India has been able to operate during the lockdown due to the digital adoptions, in some way, which is going to accelerate. The business models and delivery models in every sector are changing. Given the transformation in business landscape, IT industry has significant potential. It is important to understand the reflection in job market.

Mr. Saugata Basu, Chief Technology & Digital Officer, Aditya Birla Group - Textiles mentioned that IT has an enormous future for everybody because IT is going to be the main stream of delivering services; governance and Innovations. Work from home will become more prevalent in India. Sense of professionalism is very important during work from home.

Mr. Anindya Mitra, Director, IBM Global Business Services, India emphasized that IBM has recently launched Open PTECH, free digital education platform focused on workplace learning and digital skills. The platform, building on the industry leading P-TECH program, equips 14-20-year old learners. It has been launched in 4 countries viz. Australia, Brazil, USA and India. Most IT companies now look for 3 types of skill sets - Basic Skill, Soft Skill and New Age Skill like cloud, automation.

Mr. C N Raghupathi, Senior Vice President, India Business Unit, Infosys emphasized that this pandemic has actually got certain technologies going and in the immediate near future, we need to look at those technologies. If we have been following the fortunes of the big cloud companies i.e. Google; Amazona and Microsoft, their growth rate has been 51% and perceptibly growth is equal to hiring. Mr. Raghupathi also stated that In India, various organizations are looking at Quantum Computing and AI. The students, having expertise in Quantum Computing; AI will get preference of job opportunities in the Industry.

Prof. Chandan Mazumdar, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Jadavpur University shared his view on the recruitment scenario - present and post pandemic, from students' perspective.

Mr. Chiranjib Bhattacharya, Co-Chairperson, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber and CEO, Wizertech Informatics Pvt Ltd said that with the expected trend of newer opportunities emerging for IT Industry in the New Normal, MSME IT companies are also expected to get a boost. This will provide opportunities to students of various levels especially in the transformational and emerging technologies that should prevail, going forward.

The Webinar also highlighted that:
▪  The collateral damage has happened to businesses globally due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Businesses are going through sea change and adapting to the "New Normal".
▪  Digital Adoption has been the most crucial element in the Change Management.
▪  Digital economy will get a major boost and create more jobs for technology professionals.
▪  The Students with IT Skills will get the job opportunity in Industry. Skills in Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Software Surveillance, IT Security and others will give the students extra edge in the job market.