Israel-Hamas War: Tech firms may move to India if war escalates; jobs in India may surge

Israel-Hamas War: If the war escalares, tech companies may shift their operations to India leading to a surge in jobs, reported Economic Times. As per the report that quoted experts, Indian firms such as TCS and Wipro could also activate business contingency plans and shift operations to India.

Why India?

Experts told Economic Times that multinational companies like Intel, Microsoft, and Google who have operations in Israel may shift business functions to locations with similar time zones and talent capabilities as part of a business continuity plan if required. The report further mentioned that apart from India, the companies may also choose Middle Eastern region and Europe.

Also Read: Israel-Hamas war: Global companies take these measure amidst ongoing dispute

Israel has got 500 multinational companies, some of which are global capability centres (GCCs) and research and development (R&D) centres that has employed over 1 lakh people.

Impact On Tech Industry

If the war continues, the tech industry may face a short to mid term impact. Peter Bendor-Samuel, chief executive of IT research firm Everest Group told Economic Times, that many of the people employed in Israel may be called up to the frontlines, impacting the tech industry.

“Workloads will shift in the short run to offset risk. India and eastern Europe would benefit if there is a material impact,” he told Economic Times.

Israel's Talent

Bendor-Samuel, however, mentioned that the nature of the talent in Israel is “very specialised” and there is unlikely to be a permanent shift of tech operations from there at this time.

Israel, which is a strategic hub for Security, R&D and automotive innovation has said that it can call up to 3 lakh reservists from its citizens to participate in military operations if the situation warrants. Many of them are employed with the technology sector.

Cybersecurity Enhancement

As per Economic Times, globally, customers have requested to tighten their cybersecurity infrastructure in recent weeks. The war has put the spotlight on this, as Israel is a cybersecurity hub.

“Israel is a major hub for cybersecurity solutions for major technology companies and any escalation of the safety situation could lead companies to shift these roles out for business continuity,” Prateek Jain, an outsourcing expert told Economic Times.

Supply chains will also be disrupted in case the war escalates affecting the IT services businesses and their revenues.