IT Survivors – Staying Alive In A Software Job
Before I started working for myself, I spent some years in some of the top IT companies in India and still have many friends working in various software companies. I wrote a blog Recruiting like crazy, about the same time last year about how Indian companies are recruiting like there’s no tomorrow and the possible consequences. However I was avoiding writing this particular piece as it seems like an unpatriotic thing to do, to tell the world how bad the working conditions in software companies in India have become. And there’s always the risk of excerpts being used out of context to bash up IT in India.
I am now writing this because I just keep hearing horror tales from the industry and it doesn’t seem like anything is being done in the matter, so I thought I will do my bit and write.
First and foremost, before stereotypes about India kick in, I would like to clarify that I am not saying that Indian software companies are sweat shops where employees aren’t being paid and made to
work in cramped uncomfortable places. The pay in software companies is very good as compared to other industries in India and the work places are generally well furnished and plush offices. India being a strong democracy, freedom of expression is alive and well and Indians are free to express their opinions and voice their concerns. Yet, I say that the software industry is exploiting its employees.
IT work culture in India is totally messed up and has now started harming the work culture of the nation as a whole. Working 12+ hours a day and 6 or even 7 days a week is more the rule than the exception.
Consequences:
- A majority of IT people suffer from health problems.As most of the IT workforce is still very young, the problem isn’t very obvious today but it will hit with unbearable ferocity when these youngsters get to their 40s.
- Stress levels are unbelievable high. Stress management is a cover topic in magazines and newspapers and workshops on the subject are regularly overbooked.
- Most IT people have hardly any social / family life to talk of.
- As IT folk are rich by Indian standards, they try to buy their way out of their troubles and have incurred huge debts by buying expensive houses, gizmos and fancy cars.
Plush offices, fat salaries and latest gizmos can give you happiness only if you have a life in the first place.
The reason I feel this culture has emerged, is the servile attitude of the companies. Here’s a tip for any company in the west planning to outsource to India. If you feel that a project can be completed in 6 weeks by 4 people, always demand that it be completed in 2 weeks by 3 people.
Guess what, most Indian companies will agree. The project will then be hyped up as an “extremely critical” one and the 3 unfortunate souls allocated to it will get very close to meeting the almighty by the time they deliver the project in 2 weeks. Surprisingly, they will deliver in 2-3 weeks, get bashed up for any delays and the company will soon boast about how they deliver good quality in reasonable time and cost. Has anyone in India ever worked on a project that wasn’t “extremely critical”?
I was once at a session where a top boss of one of India’s biggest IT firms was asked a question about what was so special about their company and his answer was that we are the “Yes” people with the “We Can Do It ” attitude.
It is all very well for the top boss to say “We Can Do It “.. what about the project teams who wish to say “Please….We Can’t Do It ” to the unreasonable timelines…I was tempted to ask “What death benefits does your company offer to the teams that get killed in the process?”. I sure was ashamed to see that a fellow Indian was openly boasting about the fact that he and his company had no backbone. The art of saying No or negotiating reasonable time frames for the team is very conspicuous by its absence. Outsourcing customers more often than not simply walk all over Indian software companies. The outsourcer surely cannot be blamed as it is right for him to demand good quality in the least cost and time.
Exhaustion = Zero Innovation
- How many Indians in India are thought leaders in their software segment? – Very few
- How much software innovation happens in India? – Minimal
- Considering that thousands of Indians in India use Open Source software, how many actually contribute? – Very few
Surprisingly, put the same Indian in a company “in” the US and he suddenly becomes innovative and a thought leader in his field.
The reason is simple, the only thing an exhausted body and mind can do well, is sleep. zzzzzz
I can pretty much bet on it that we will never see innovation from any of 10000+ person code factories in India.
If you are someone sitting in the US, UK… and wondering why the employees can’t stand up, that’s the most interesting part of the story. Read on…
The Problem
The software professional Indian is today making more money in a month than what his parents might have made in an year. Very often a 21 year old newbie software developer makes more money than his/her 55 year old father working in an old world business. Most of these youngsters are well aware of this gap and so work under an impression that they are being paid an unreasonable amount of money. They naturally equate unreasonable money with unreasonable amount of work.
Another important factor is this whole bubble that an IT person lives in.. An IT professional walks with a halo around his or her head. They are the Cool, Rich Gen Next .. the Intelligentsia of the New World… they travel all over the world, vacation at exotic locations abroad, talk “american”, are more familiar of the geography of the USA than that of India and yes of course, they are the hottest things in the Wedding Market!!!
This I feel is the core problem because if employees felt they were being exploited, things would change.
I speak about this to some of my friends and the answer is generally “Hey Harshad, what you say is correct and we sure are suffering, but why do you think we are being paid this much money? It’s not for 40 hours but for 80 hours a week. And anyway what choice do we have? It’s the same everywhere.”
So can we make things change? Is there a way to try and stop an entire generation of educated Indians from ending up with “no life”.
Solutions
1) Never complement someone for staying till midnight or working 7 days a week.
Recently, in an awards ceremony at a software company, the manager handing over the “employee of the month” award said something like “It’s unbelievable how hard he works. When I come to office early, I see him working, when I leave office late, I still see him working”.. These sort of comments can kill the morale of every employee trying to do good work in an 8hr day.
Companies need to stop hiding behind the excuse that the time difference between India and the west is the reason why people need to stay in office for 14 hours a day. Staying late should be a negative thing that should work against an employee in his appraisals. Never complement someone for staying till midnight or working 7 days a week .
2) Estimates:
If time estimates go wrong, the company should be willing to take a hit and not force the employee to work crazy hours to bail projects out of trouble. This will ensure that the estimates made for the next project are more real and not just what the customer has asked for.
3) Employee organizations / forums
NASSCOM (National Association for Software and Services Companies) and CSI (Computer Society Of India) are perhaps the only two well known software associations in India and both I feel have failed the software employee. I do not recall any action from these organizations to try and improve the working conditions of software employees. This has to change.
I am not in favor of forming trade unions for software people, as trade unions in India have traditionally been more effective at ruining businesses and making employees inefficient than getting employees their rights and helping business do well. So existing bodies like NASSCOM should create and popularize employee welfare cells at a state / regional level and these cells should work only for employee welfare and not be puppets in the hands of the companies.
If the industry does not itself create proper forums for employee welfare, it’s likely that the government / trade unions will interfere and mess up India’s sunshine industry.
4) Narayan Murthys please stand up
Top bosses of companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, etc. need to send the message loud and clear to their company and to other companies listening at national IT events that employee welfare is really their top concern and having good working culture and conditions is a priority. Employee welfare here does not mean giving the employee the salary he/she dreams of.
Last word
I am sure some of my thoughts come from the fact that I too worked in such an environment for a few years and perhaps I haven’t got over the frustrations I experienced back then.
So think about my views with a pinch of salt but do think about them. And if you have an opinion on this issue, don’t forget to add a comment to this article.
u make yr choices, either make hay while the sun shines or get back to old economy industry which is majorly short-staffed currently..
I fully agree with u Harshad
I fully agree with u Harshad
I agree with Harshad’s view that IT companies are exploiting the employees but then I do believe that employees themselves are equally responsible for it. Being in this profession many a times I see people staying late even if there isn’t any such requirement but to impress the boss or ‘coz they have to pass the time. Most of the people here do think that they can only succeed by impressing the boss.
This situation can not improve if employees don’t change their thinking.
I agree with Harshad’s view that IT companies are exploiting the employees but then I do believe that employees themselves are equally responsible for it. Being in this profession many a times I see people staying late even if there isn’t any such requirement but to impress the boss or ‘coz they have to pass the time. Most of the people here do think that they can only succeed by impressing the boss.
This situation can not improve if employees don’t change their thinking.
Hi all,
what harshad says is very close to what the citu say ( trade union of the left)…
all that harshad wants is a non-left welfare union where there will be collective bargaining for IT workers welfare and rights.
a) whenever mnc capital demands – third world succumbs ( not only india even pakistan has to do the same thing and not only IT)..dont forget this industry has to work according to the u.s bosses or the worlds bosses – if not the industry will move to another third world country – that is new economic policy ushered in by manmohan – this is called globalisation..this is the same thing which helps us trot the globe
b) the economy itself is based on selling indian labour to american industry and make money in the difference in wages. Indian IT economy itself is not based on innovation by design. This is different from America, they invested a lot in its universities for military purposes ( remeber DARPA) and then gave it up to the MNCs.
c) Unless the indian government is keen on doing this kind of innovation – with a strong academic base – innovation will be only a dream – we will do this labour and earn our wages – how can we have slef reliance – when our policy is not to demand that in IT – this is true in all the industries of india –
what harshad is asking for is something – something more polished than the erstwhile left) – something which wants to put people before profit
‘demanding an 8 hour day involving 400,000 workers in Chicago that started May 1st 1886 ‘
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/about/mayday.html
are we doing the same thing again – we need to think
also what about the really poor -our fellow citizens – who are migrating – and are more affected by globalisation – will we stand by them
5% or less of indians have professional degrees what about their role in helping out people who are being thrown to slums?
http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/psainath/
Hi all,
what harshad says is very close to what the citu say ( trade union of the left)…
all that harshad wants is a non-left welfare union where there will be collective bargaining for IT workers welfare and rights.
a) whenever mnc capital demands – third world succumbs ( not only india even pakistan has to do the same thing and not only IT)..dont forget this industry has to work according to the u.s bosses or the worlds bosses – if not the industry will move to another third world country – that is new economic policy ushered in by manmohan – this is called globalisation..this is the same thing which helps us trot the globe
b) the economy itself is based on selling indian labour to american industry and make money in the difference in wages. Indian IT economy itself is not based on innovation by design. This is different from America, they invested a lot in its universities for military purposes ( remeber DARPA) and then gave it up to the MNCs.
c) Unless the indian government is keen on doing this kind of innovation – with a strong academic base – innovation will be only a dream – we will do this labour and earn our wages – how can we have slef reliance – when our policy is not to demand that in IT – this is true in all the industries of india –
what harshad is asking for is something – something more polished than the erstwhile left) – something which wants to put people before profit
‘demanding an 8 hour day involving 400,000 workers in Chicago that started May 1st 1886 ‘
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/about/mayday.html
are we doing the same thing again – we need to think
also what about the really poor -our fellow citizens – who are migrating – and are more affected by globalisation – will we stand by them
5% or less of indians have professional degrees what about their role in helping out people who are being thrown to slums?
http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/psainath/
All countries have laws to protect their workforce that do not allow people to work more than X hours per week (40, 50 or whatever). I think we can file a PIL or something or somehow demand for such laws here also. Clearly, in no case can the employers reimburse the loss of health and personal life to the employees so how can they force employees to work like donkeys?! This needs to stop. javascript:ac_smilie(‘:upset’)
javascript:ac_smilie(‘:upset’)
All countries have laws to protect their workforce that do not allow people to work more than X hours per week (40, 50 or whatever). I think we can file a PIL or something or somehow demand for such laws here also. Clearly, in no case can the employers reimburse the loss of health and personal life to the employees so how can they force employees to work like donkeys?! This needs to stop. javascript:ac_smilie(‘:upset’)
javascript:ac_smilie(‘:upset’)
Good point about the (lack of) contribution of Indians to the open source work.
I work on Linux a lot. Even small coutries like Hungary and Slovenia have much better level of localization of all open source software, various pre-configured settings etc than India, the so-called IT ‘superpower’.
Indian programmers do need to think outside the box, be more creative, and contribute towards open source projects. (if they can afford ANY spare time). It is a pity that our languages have virtually no presence on the internet.
Good point about the (lack of) contribution of Indians to the open source work.
I work on Linux a lot. Even small coutries like Hungary and Slovenia have much better level of localization of all open source software, various pre-configured settings etc than India, the so-called IT ‘superpower’.
Indian programmers do need to think outside the box, be more creative, and contribute towards open source projects. (if they can afford ANY spare time). It is a pity that our languages have virtually no presence on the internet.
I don’t understand the point when you say Murthy stand up and ask for the bigger IT company bosses to stand up and take note. Obviously you are not such a novice to expects that the bosses don’t know whats going on in their offices. As for the biggies they are the ones who would have started the trend coz they are the old hats who defined the rules of the business and it ‘s nothing new to the Indian IT industry. Infact the only solution to this can be that the Employess themselves show some back bone and learn to say no. I am myself a part of the industry for a almost to year and have refused a number of times for sitting late hours for no reason, I know its dfficult to do so and certain people have faced bad consequences for the same(I haven’t yet), but that’s the only way out. There are many instances when the managers want the teams to sit late for no reason coz they have done the same in their times and expect that only people who sit late do good work, such pathetic thinking has resulted in the high attrition rates(other factors aso accounted for).
wishing the best for the industry and hope theres some light at this end — Asif(aaasif.blog.com)
I don’t understand the point when you say Murthy stand up and ask for the bigger IT company bosses to stand up and take note. Obviously you are not such a novice to expects that the bosses don’t know whats going on in their offices. As for the biggies they are the ones who would have started the trend coz they are the old hats who defined the rules of the business and it ‘s nothing new to the Indian IT industry. Infact the only solution to this can be that the Employess themselves show some back bone and learn to say no. I am myself a part of the industry for a almost to year and have refused a number of times for sitting late hours for no reason, I know its dfficult to do so and certain people have faced bad consequences for the same(I haven’t yet), but that’s the only way out. There are many instances when the managers want the teams to sit late for no reason coz they have done the same in their times and expect that only people who sit late do good work, such pathetic thinking has resulted in the high attrition rates(other factors aso accounted for).
wishing the best for the industry and hope theres some light at this end — Asif(aaasif.blog.com)
In 1984 Narayan Murthy discovered this , so he decided to change his class from labor to owner class.
What he went through first ten years, can be found out in many stories on Infy. The story continued.
Many more people dropped their class and jumped in to entrepreneurial ventures. Some succeeded and
many are still fighting. Not given up their freedom .
Wipro and TCS is different. They are purely business house. They don’t follow DASCAPITAL.
Then they next breed came. Iflex no single owner. Professional managed and owned by Institutions
and not by any Individuals. Succeeded as Product business and finally oracle eat up. Behind Iflex
100 years of wisdom from CITIBANK.
Price one pay for their freedom is phenomenal.
Best thing will be to move out of the rat race as early as possible.
10 to 12 years of services in IT industry should be sufficient to gain financial freedom.
After that even you run a Pan shop, you will be doing it happily.
Otherwise you have the option of running after green buck like Harshad is doing and licking American’s A…………
In 1984 Narayan Murthy discovered this , so he decided to change his class from labor to owner class.
What he went through first ten years, can be found out in many stories on Infy. The story continued.
Many more people dropped their class and jumped in to entrepreneurial ventures. Some succeeded and
many are still fighting. Not given up their freedom .
Wipro and TCS is different. They are purely business house. They don’t follow DASCAPITAL.
Then they next breed came. Iflex no single owner. Professional managed and owned by Institutions
and not by any Individuals. Succeeded as Product business and finally oracle eat up. Behind Iflex
100 years of wisdom from CITIBANK.
Price one pay for their freedom is phenomenal.
Best thing will be to move out of the rat race as early as possible.
10 to 12 years of services in IT industry should be sufficient to gain financial freedom.
After that even you run a Pan shop, you will be doing it happily.
Otherwise you have the option of running after green buck like Harshad is doing and licking American’s A…………
This is to us all:
I am not sure how many ppl voice their thots to their managers when asked to ‘stretch’ for a critical project (which is almost every project). When I explained that the work cud be done better with task-level planning and better work allocation, I was asked to work as a part of the team and not stray away from team-work. ‘Do whatever it takes to be a part of the team!’ .. even if it means to not have a life outside office…. ‘We are not a Govt office .. you simple cannot expect a 9-6 work day’ ….. ‘Show your commitment to the company .. stay late’ ……. pooooh! To the likes of such managers and developers, such ‘late-nights and week-ends’ are the only measure of productivity. A person who can work smart and well and accomplish more in less time is seen more as a threat and a weirdo rather than as an example to be emulated. The result of persisting over-work and fatigue filled days is more re-work and inaccuracy in the deliverables. Why are we killing ourselves for this money? Not that we make pots of money! I bet anyone who is stuck in IT and in such projects is stuck cos there’s nothing else we have been found capable to do and I bet 90% keep looking for ways to quit the damn hectic project/company or the industry that leaves us with little room for much else.
Hullo …. there’s life beyond office … free snacks and dinner don’t compensate for a social life and relationships. Rather than missing out on the people in our lives, its high time we find ways to make money and still live a life.
To people who grew up … slogging and ruining their health and building this unhealthy culture …. grow up and start thinking smart …. its about time the industry evolved in our country. Knowledge and IT are far …. even, unrelated terms ….. work is mediocre to say the least .. in most cases, monotonous ….. we are afterall, just white-collared service workers …… breathing closed-circulation air (cos of the air-conditioning provided for the equipments) and learning to slowly forget the most important things in our lives.
The least the Govt can do is recognise us as workers and provide unions that try to protect our interests …. read health and social life.
:upset :sigh
This is to us all:
I am not sure how many ppl voice their thots to their managers when asked to ‘stretch’ for a critical project (which is almost every project). When I explained that the work cud be done better with task-level planning and better work allocation, I was asked to work as a part of the team and not stray away from team-work. ‘Do whatever it takes to be a part of the team!’ .. even if it means to not have a life outside office…. ‘We are not a Govt office .. you simple cannot expect a 9-6 work day’ ….. ‘Show your commitment to the company .. stay late’ ……. pooooh! To the likes of such managers and developers, such ‘late-nights and week-ends’ are the only measure of productivity. A person who can work smart and well and accomplish more in less time is seen more as a threat and a weirdo rather than as an example to be emulated. The result of persisting over-work and fatigue filled days is more re-work and inaccuracy in the deliverables. Why are we killing ourselves for this money? Not that we make pots of money! I bet anyone who is stuck in IT and in such projects is stuck cos there’s nothing else we have been found capable to do and I bet 90% keep looking for ways to quit the damn hectic project/company or the industry that leaves us with little room for much else.
Hullo …. there’s life beyond office … free snacks and dinner don’t compensate for a social life and relationships. Rather than missing out on the people in our lives, its high time we find ways to make money and still live a life.
To people who grew up … slogging and ruining their health and building this unhealthy culture …. grow up and start thinking smart …. its about time the industry evolved in our country. Knowledge and IT are far …. even, unrelated terms ….. work is mediocre to say the least .. in most cases, monotonous ….. we are afterall, just white-collared service workers …… breathing closed-circulation air (cos of the air-conditioning provided for the equipments) and learning to slowly forget the most important things in our lives.
The least the Govt can do is recognise us as workers and provide unions that try to protect our interests …. read health and social life.
:upset :sigh
hi harshad, U talk about murthy. Do u think wat he is doing in his company is rt? I see most unhappy(interms of work and pay) people there. Where u build a company far out side the city and u build park,gym and all other things there. Which is just wat u say as ‘bachelor’s’ place. Where u spend money on building fountains and fancy building but not on people work there.
Any way it is a nice article which really makes a difference..
hi harshad, U talk about murthy. Do u think wat he is doing in his company is rt? I see most unhappy(interms of work and pay) people there. Where u build a company far out side the city and u build park,gym and all other things there. Which is just wat u say as ‘bachelor’s’ place. Where u spend money on building fountains and fancy building but not on people work there.
Any way it is a nice article which really makes a difference..
Software people are working so hard as they get more salary. People in other sectors will not do this example: cotton mill where it runs 24 hrs ,7day week. Working long hours and taking care of health and etc are personal wish of an individual. Whoever doesnot like the such job should have guts to find the one they love. If not there is no harm in continuing the present job which atleast gets they some thing instead of nothing.
Software people are working so hard as they get more salary. People in other sectors will not do this example: cotton mill where it runs 24 hrs ,7day week. Working long hours and taking care of health and etc are personal wish of an individual. Whoever doesnot like the such job should have guts to find the one they love. If not there is no harm in continuing the present job which atleast gets they some thing instead of nothing.
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/11/whos_in_control.html
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/11/whos_in_control.html
Hrashad
your article proves again that indians have that inherent slave mentality in them. American economy
Hrashad
your article proves again that indians have that inherent slave mentality in them. American economy