Post-GFC people management challenges: a study of India's information technology sector

This paper analyses the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC) on human resource management (HRM) practices in India's information technology (IT) industry. The findings support the presence of a hard approach to HRM. Despite the negative impact of the GFC, there was evidence of growth in certain IT services. The specific positive and negative impacts include firms' unethical and opportunistic behaviour in performance management, pay freezes, reduced billing and employee turnover rates, increased competition, addition of new service areas and improvisations to firms' business models. The short-term outlook for managers is to tread with caution. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.