Recruiting like crazy
As Indian software companies continue to recruit like there’s no tomorrow, salaries are rising (Ref: Satyam hikes salaries), job sites and?job sections in newspapers are flooded with IT job ads. So is all this good news for India and its IT talent or is there a darker side to it??
Most believe that these are good days for IT in India and?almost all companies are recruiting on a massive scale. Recruitments are happening across the board for all kinds of skill sets, including J2EE.
Only yesterday, a friend told me that his company is having a Diwali Dhamaka recruitment drive so that those who refer new employees at the time of the Diwali festival get some additional gifts apart from the standard amount one gets when a referral actually joins the company and stays with it for a few months.
I then had a look at the current Business World magazine and say these amazing statistics. Infosys, TCS and Wipro together added a whopping 14,530 new employees in just 3 months (July-Sep 04) !!! These three together have 110,960 employees! And these are just three of the many IT companies in India. So if you consider the recruitments happening at IBM, Oracle, HSBC, Cognizant, i-flex…..the figures would be startling to say the least!
Source: Business World
Sounds good ??? I am not so sure.?
What worries me are the conclusions one can draw from these figures:
- The idea of “knowledge workers” is a big sham. IT professionals are glorified in India and elsewhere as smart people doing highly intellectual tasks. I think that is very far away from the truth. I refuse to believe that TCS, Infosys and Wipro have intellectual work for 110,960 people.
- So obviously most work happening here is mundane and repetitive. Companies seem to think that the solution for every problem comes when you throw more employees at it. So you are essentially paying smart men and women big salaries to handle stupid tasks. BPO is the best example of this. Have a look at Brain Paralysing Outfits?by Mahesh Murthy.
- The mantra today is “The more the employees, the bigger and better the company” when it actually should be the “The more innovation, the more the creation of intellectual property, the bigger the international presence, the better the company”. When was the last time you heard of a ingenious new software coming from any of these giant Indian companies?
- Perhaps the most worrying factor is that, as with all good things, this phase will not last forever. A few years back some companies laid off 50-100 employees and there was a major hue and cry about it. However this time round the layoff would not be in the single or double digits. It would be on a scale that India has never seen before. There are no employee bodies to protect employee interests and so I wonder who can possibly stop this day from coming. Having said that, IT employees don’t even seem willing to recognize this possibility.? Consumerism has swept India and most IT professionals are between 20-40 and are carrying loans of a million rupees and more!
- The value of an individual is negligible or zero. You are no more than an EmployeeId. So if you are a fresh graduate with dreams of changing the world, a small 10 person company might be a better option than being just Another Brick in The Wall!
Although I risk being termed a?pessimist, I hope I have at least provided a different point of view and some food for thought. I am looking forward to reading your comments on the subject.?
Related:
I would like to add something…
Considering the major service providers in India (TCS, WIPRO, INFOSYS), they are doing their work of recruiting people for enhancing the business. Revenues increase with the number of employees. Clients pay if nearly 1000$ per employee for lowest level in IT industry ie Software Engineer. Converted in indian rupees will fetch around 45k per employee. Thats how the company manages to make 600 crore net profit. And until they are making such huge profits, they dont damn care who is doing what is their company. As far as i am concerned i was not given the training also and i am working on a project. You can imagine how simple the work might be. Even a 10th std guy having sound knowledge of computers will do it. The only thing which i can comment to get a good career in IT industry is to get to management field. A software engineer is just a piece of — of the IT companies which can be thrown to the garbage bins anytime.
what i think is, there are two school of thoughts……one is employee and the other is definitely employer. if i m hungry for the job, i will do the job of 12 hrs a day and dont bother abt creativity…….but if i m an employer i mean to business and money, whether it is service based or product based.
That was a great article(?) and I would love to send this to all the CEOs :grin . I am in the same position, wht U hav mentioned, but the only diff. is that I am not overstretched. I enjoy the work and use to hav more fun at the time for work [my headphone is always plugged in/Messenger is On], and somehow am able to put the things as per the Schedule. But am sure that this is not the case with all.
Sometime I find people happy saying that they sleep just 3-4 hours a day! They are more happy to sit infront of the BOX rather than spending time with family/friend/pillow. 😉
So I think its something wrong from the side of the Professionals also. [I agree that these kind of thoughts by the professionals are being exploited by the employers as well].
I am sorry to say that I cant find any solutions for this stuff. Lot of my friends are having Nexk/Back/ Problems, and I went thru the same channel when I was working as a freelancer and at the same time as a company employee. It was hectic. And the best solution I found was that to reduce freelancing. That gave me enuf rest and relaxation. So the one probable solution wht can be made is that giv more importance to health/family and not to work/money.
Hello I too totally agree on almost all the aspects here. Infact i am working in one of the indian big company mentione here. yes recruitment is on a high scale but most of them will be on training and then bench. Some people may get good work immediately after recruitment. Infact recruitment is done in such a way that if there is a requirement in Java 1.4 and J2EE specifically EJB then HR people are sending resumes which match even java script and being panelist we are allowed to reject very few resumes not all…so invariable people who do not have skills are also taken thinking they will be of some use later. I really pitty on this system. Infact i personally went through an experience where one of my boss having 9+ experience in Java hardly knew anything on java. He was sun certified with 86% i had a shock of life when he wrote a code which had so many compilation errors. I told him that this is what i observed of then he took it personally though i told him to improve on certain things and he gave a very bad appraisal. Then i was emotionaly forced to come out of that project and now he been promoted from senior engg to project manager when i asked a question about the same, manager for both of us told me that he is highly accessable that means he is almost available in office and i work only 10 hours a day and i am little strict on my timings unless or untill it is very critical i do not stay late. So manager told me that i am little arrogant and that guy is soft and has reasons for failure…infact he use to blame others when there was some problem and i used to take it as team work and blame out on me rather than any one else and used to work some night out to show that its our mistake and we should not blame others. This guy used to come to office at 8:30 or 9 and used to do his personal work almost all the time. So most of the other people in the project are forced to stay late even if they don’t have work. I think each individual need to take up seriously that they need to work for some standard hours and stick to it unless or untill its really critical.
i expected a good IT job in a company mentioned above and got into it..but they offered me a job which i never ever imagined..i cant… :upset
Ya, the worry of author is understood. Even i have thought of this sometimes. Now, taking into account the way the industry is moving & the way the investment on the infrastructure is being done, for example tcs is building sirusari, chennai, investing millions of ruppess & it has a vision top 10 by 2010. And now considering the above point some assurance is there that IT would be save for atleast next 15-20yrs. Or else these guys will not invest so much on this… Now when i said its 20yrs & push & struggle for 10 more yrs which means 30yrs,,so the current generation is done. This is what happend to BANKS…people where driven crazy & lots of BANK jobs were offered (few decades back)..and now the banks are aking its emp. to give voluntary retirement… so similarly, this may happen some day when the IT era is replaced by something…but for that we cann’t leave the hot cake & look into other industry.. And also about the kind of work..people how criticies the kind-of work done by the services company can better go & join social work… look if u want money & they say will pay only if u do cpy paste, then do it….or else quit… if someone wants inovation, better go for research,,, ITS SIMPLE..AS IN CRICKET…WE WANT RUNS..NOT HOW THE BATMEN PLAYS THE SHOT OR HIS FOOTWORK,,,WE WANT SIXERS…….And above all there is INFINITY to protect us….regards.. HBR…
:roll :eek :upset :zzz :sigh :p 8) 😉 :grin 🙂 😕 :cry 🙁 😡
The skill development team in IT Companies are helping out their employees in setting Short Term and Long Term Goals. One who sets his goals right need not really bother about IT in future.
well…my understanding is..all this might be true for service based companies like CTS, TCS, Wipro etc etc…not for product based ones for sure.
guys,
tell me one thing, why do you always blame the IT companies in India, what about the individual who works there, just as harshad says there is nothing wrong in what the clients as the IT companies, and the big shot IT bosses want to make money, they are not here to innovate and do stuff like that, they want to squeeze every ounce of the employee and make money, the blame lies on the employees, people who study different fields get into IT why is this the case, why would someone study civil engineering and then get into computers, if you are interested in computers then study them from the beginning dont waste 4 yrs of life in studying civil engineering and then completely forget what you studied and get into IT. part of the reason is people who study in one field and get into other field just for money dont have an interest in either fields what kind of innovation can we expect from a person who is driven by money and not technology, where has the passion gone for other fields of engineering. The blame goes to a lot of people, schooling system which does not encourage the young eager minds to think and ask questions and be creative, but rather try to make them good hard disks which store the text books. Parents who dont let the kids to think on their own and have a say in what they want to do, what most parents do is force a career on their kids. I agree with what Harshad says, sitting in a IT company working long hours cause health realted problems but that is not the case with them alone it is the case with todays kids too, how often do you see kids playing after school these days. Just like the schools no parents want their kids to play, they want to sit at home and study.
The reasons for this problem are simply too many, but to put it simple, ‘Stop chosing a career for money and start doing what interests you.’ I’m so glad that I chose a career of my passion- Environmental Engineering, because I really do enjoy what I do and that helps me excel in what I do.
I can keep going on but I dont want to eat your minds any longer
I can comment only of few companies in bangalore which include the companies I have worked before and some in which my close friends work. Most of these companies do pretty decent work, with very good amount of R&D. The skill sets required is very competitive and I see very few ppl have these in bangalore, after conducting around 100+ interviews at senior level. There are some very cutting edge jobs and equally cut&paste jobs. Onus lies on the individuals to choose the right job. Once you are good at what you are working at with love, you tend to be more positive, relaxed and with good health. Lets be more positive, cheerful and encourage our India to come out of the un-employmentcriminals, recursion stories and march towards a vibrant economy. Remember China too were in similar position as India and now they are much much ahead of us. Forget expecting Infosys/Wipro to invest in products. They are making money as true business men. Lets see what we are and how we can achieve something what people who we complain haven’t achieved .. suresh reddy/bangalore.
Hi Harshad,
You are 100% right!!!
Please suggest some more solutions…
Hey Harshad is very right when he says that employees are exploited and we dont even feel that way as we expect high salary as a compensation for more work that we have to do to meet the deadlines.
Companies should encourage its employees to move out of the office at around 6PM and should never appriciate late working hours.
Companies need to be more true to hteir employees in a saense that they should have aproper schedule made for each project and should bear the loss in case of any delay in the project schedule due to any reason. If companies have a lot of profit from the schedule they make then they sholud also bear the losses in case anything goes wrong in schedule wrong. Companies should say ‘NO’ to projects which does not have a good schedule or atleast negotiate with the client to have correct and fair schedule
The IT industry has brought INDIA into the world map. INdia is no longer a land of snakes but its a land of snakes and software as well. We are certainly beniffiting from IT boom as more and more industries are coming to india for skilled workers.
This industry lacks the basic knowledge of how the employees are to be treated.
In terms of the working hours, its a pathetic state in all the companies..
Its always that the projects are brought in the company by quoting to the customers that the project will be completed in the most minimal of time with the minimal of resources..there by its the emplyoees who suffer working from morning till night..(many-a-times it carried on to the next day)
The 2nd thing is, there are always some ppl who spoil the working hours(8 hrs)…
they come very late to the office..due to which ..the other ppl who have already come to the office at the right time..have to wait for the work to be assigned to them…
..its very obvious that the work would have to completed quickly..so those ppl wrk late night..
the 3rd thing is that…
some ppl,deliberately sit in the office until late night…so that their bosses knw that they have been working very hard..which is disgusting.
Also,if a person gets out of office at 6pm,eyebrows are raised.
Its high time these things change
It happened for me to come acrross the word Innovatio through out the article. Though many IT companies spell out Innovation as its core value, it is not possible to recruit 1000’s of Innovative minds.
Also i feel personaly there is no way your innovation is used here. Doing routine job daily???where does this innovation comes in.
Also the software service industry have moved from the so praised development activities to the stuffs like maintenance ,testing and others. Reason is simple ‘More buisness, more money’.You cannot blame them for this, money matters every where.
Also a new racy competition has poped up among our software industry. Announcing result. They are not worried about any thing,they just see to that some 30 % growth in revenue this year. I blame media for crearting this hype.
Hi all ;-),
Before putting the blame of non innovation in indian IT industry on the IT industry administrators, we should ask ourself one question, …………………………………………………………………
What we have ourself done for innovation/ for improving the situation of todays working standards?
-ve answer:
Most of us will give the answers that we do not have time to do that because of heavy work schedule and most of them will not have even started their innovative activities. Because those who start their work of Interest never give
excuses or give up so easily. They will wait for time to come to continue with their innovation, and meanwhile they can gather
the experience required for getting their ideas rolling. They know the word…………..’Balancing’
+ve answers:
Those who have made some innovation in work process, technology etc……..they know that there are many people to support them, even if they give atleast an innovative thought, because the people around us( at higher grade or
lower) are the ones, those who also have this same desire inside them. They will ‘see’ themselves in you and will make the
efforts of you come true, which they have once thought of or tried to.
I agree with the author’s view that Senior people/ organizations in IT should do their bit in improving the working
standards.
‘Big responsibilities comes with big position’…. Spider Man. 😉
But before that, we should do our bit ——– to ‘Inspire’ them.
Remember the recent nice Airtel add.’ Assmaan simaat jayega tumhare aahosh me………bahee fhailakar ro dekho ‘ 😉
Sandeep W. Matte,
S/W engg.(S.E.)
Hi,
From my experience it does not matter which company to work for it only matters what kind of project u’r in …
Some guyz work on ‘bleeding’ edge technologies but they are not motivated to do so , but some people have programming in there blood but they only get to work on things like VB and .Net Stuff….
Indian IT majors look only at the degrees for top institutes .. but the CEO’s of Top IT companies are college drop outs!!!(Bill gates,Larry Ellison,Mic Dell…) The funda is ‘Drop out’ and start up on your own …
If a person is really innovative he’ll never work for a company!
8)
I have been in IT industry for 7 years and believe me i had no idea how to design a simple system when i started even though i am a CS grad. But now, i know i have grown, i can visualize software and know that in a few years i will design a ground breaking product.
So the point i am making is that Indian IT industry is very small by global standards and in a few years a critical mass of people will emerge who will start developing truly innovative products.
Let us be clear, not everyone is an innovator, but only a few are enough and i think we will get there in a few years. Besides, why are we discounting the Indian market itself, with all the money pouring in and India becoming stronger, a huge Indian market for IT services will open up in 5-6 years and all the IT grads we have will be required for it.
I see current scenario as an opportunity to learn and grow and become better
It is true that working in a big software company noting more is being done than mundane tasks and not so challenging tasks
Lets throw the ball in the court to understand that having more than a billion population and thousands of grads coming out each year …which other sector could have given the chance for at least a start…
What holds for IT is same for any private sector job… govt jobs are more monotonous than wat we r talking about …..
Risk is everywhere but in odd times the one with well set plans will survive… i suppose thats the name of the game.
Hi
All this ranting and raving about IT- everybody wants to do IT! But seriously we need to stop at some point and realise – IT is a service industry. If the customers are not there – there is no IT. Unless the base industries are in place – there is no need for IT. Unfortunately because of all the factors said in the above blogs re: fat pay, fast lifestyle, phoren vacations et al – noone seems to want to join in the mainstream industry. Wonder who we will service if all of us are only working in IT jobs.
I read responses from all the ppl and most of them say that IT industry is shit of a place to work and is pretty insecure. but mind you, what is being done by the outsourcing giants in India is quite remarkable. They now have the biggies of the world as their clientele. They are bagging major deals happening in and around the world defeating the ACCENTUREs and IBMs of the world. They have shown tremendous growth and if they have work to do, they ll surely employ the ppl to do it. This does not mean that they dont have a floorplan for the future and the jpy is shortlived. The recent contracts in news have been multi million contracts spanning over a number of years. So in all, Indian IT companies are gaining faith in and around the world, and the party will go on. 🙂
Cheers
I say caliber..
I did my engineering not for just a job.
I want to enjoy what I do…Its a non fact that jobs in indian service companies are mundane [at least 80 %]. This is a fact.
Guyz who don’t want to do mean jobs can create and form small companies. It takes herrt, but it is worth it. It may be struggle but you are not a dump slave. You are intelligent. Those who accept this,move away from these triveal companies. Today may be theirs, tommorrow is for us.
What say?
IT is paying right now and watever said and done there is a opportunity to make a good life early in your age.I myself have completed 6 years in IT and i was shit scared when TCS was recruiting lots of them before Y2K.I personally thought the whole stuff is going bust but there is so much of diversification and business opportunity ( jobs too ) after that.So far so good and wat else do we need as young graduate engineers than a job.
And being in a developing country ,i dont think we have too many choices for getting a job from college.So guys enjoy life as there are no more assured jobs from govt like it used to be 20 years back.
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