KOLKATA: For over two million software professionals in India recovering from last year’s recession blues, when employers trimmed payrolls and froze hiring, there’s finally some good news ahead.

According to software industry lobby Nasscom , India’s top IT firms, including Tata Consultancy Services , Infosys and Wipro , are set to hire nearly 90,000 this year, compared with only around 20,000 last year.

Recruitment firms and HR honchos at leading IT firms say the sector has witnessed the highest-ever job creation in September, with staff strength growing over 50%, similar to pre-recession levels.

“This is the highest hiring growth recorded in the IT sector since recession. We expect similar momentum till November since companies will be required to complete their annual hiring plan before next year,” says E Balaji, director & president, Ma Foi Randstad.

With large customers like JPMorgan, Citibank and GE sending more projects to India and with firms such as IBM and Accenture under pressure to hire more in low-cost locations like India, the war for retaining and hiring talent is back.

Apart from looking to serve new projects with fresh recruits, companies are also beginning to build bench strengths for future business. “IT biggies are stocking up skills and training them in advance in anticipation of new contracts they are expected to bag in the near future,” said Pradeep Udhas, executive director and head of IT advisory, KPMG.

MphasiS, which declared a manpower base of 38,275 in its last quarterly results when it added 1,156 employees, says there are currently more than 2,000 vacant positions within the company.

“Recruitment is much more planned now with a small bench. Companies are also much more disciplined and avoiding employees who frequently change jobs”.

Interestingly, Mahindra Satyam, which is on a comeback trail, plans to recruit some 3,000 by February next year. The company, with some 27,000 employees on rolls, has been hiring fresh talent for the past few months now and has already added 3,000 people during May-July.