In 2011 I analyzed some earnings and employment data and initiated a debate on the health of the Sri Lanka IT and ITES sector. Links to the first and second columns. It appears that new data has come to light (though a source is not given and no reference is made to the sector study by the Export Development Board that I referred to in 2011).
“As an industry, we made significant progress over the last five years. Our export revenue grew from $213m in 2007 to an estimated $600m in 2013 (182%). Total employment grew from 33,000 in 2007 to an estimated 67,000 employees in 2013 (100%), and the number of companies in the industry grew from 170 in 2007 to over 220 in 2013. This is a tremendous growth from any stretch of imagination and is a result of a concerted effort from industry, academia, government and many other stakeholders.” says Madu Ratnayake, newly elected Chairman of SLASSCOM and Senior Vice President and General Manager Virtusa, laying out his vision for the coming year and recapping the achievements of the past few years.
“During the last five years, our global brand position improved significantly. AT Kearney ranked Sri Lanka among the top 25 in their global ranking in the last three consecutive rankings. Gartner ranked Sri Lanka among its top 30 global locations. IBM, Tholons and several others ranked Sri Lanka at the top of their respective leader boards.”
The earnings per employee per month come to USD 746. A little lower than the USD 817 I calculated back in 2011. But then, the problem of not separating out employees in the export segment which was identified back in 2011 may be the cause. But anyway, good if the numbers are given in comparable format so the calculations can be made, and industry bodies such as SLASSCOM have a good sense of the efficacy of their efforts.
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