The IT Boom/Doom

Chest Congesting News: Infosys hires 26 employees from my college for an annual pay packet between 7.5-8.5 lac p.a. I sincerely hope people regard this article as more than a mere justification of jealously (is it at a sub conscious level?), I’m sure my close friends who have been hired by the above firm will approve! I have nothing against the company whatsoever; I think Infosys is a company that is extremely proficient and competent in our market and a pioneer of the Indian MNC revolution. Why the chest congestion then?

I am not singling out Infosys alone but a lot of these IT companies in India. What these IT companies end up doing to their employees is program them to be mechanical (follow orders) than be thinkers. How many engineers we hear of who are from non related fields like mining, environmental,civil being captured by these IT companies and are turned into IT professionals in a non related field. The saddening part is these IT companies always employ the crème de la crème of the targeted colleges. Moreover, these companies are purely judged on their profit making capabilities, their contribution to the GDP and immense hiring capabilities. Looking at the IT space right now you could see barring a few exceptions, companies have stuck to being basic off shoring companies and doing the needful for their onshore clients. They haven’t moved onto the next level. They are happy catering to Microsoft, GE’s needs without an entrepreneurial drive. Can these IT companies become the next thing? YES THEY CAN, both as a start up on a individual level and for a company! We are blessed with all the resources sans spirit. Their objectives is achieved through charging clients on the basis of hours put in and rake in the moolah, without the client knowing what the quality hours that have been put are. They slog to work for the profit and net worth of a company and then it is absorbed. Every other week we hear an IT firm being bought over.

A brain drain is usually addressed to emigration candidates for a plethora of reasons as may be, but here I would like to lay emphasis on this phrase on a different level. I think it as an antidote for the entrepreneurial spirit because of the high pay packets and security offered by the software industry. Some of my very own friends who have been employed by Infosys are very enterprising young men. But by stifling them with the pay packets and security (mans most primitive need) they have them be penguins in the industry. Every time I meet IT guys from the industry everybody wants to talk about the menial jobs that they have and how they do not feel appreciated at a humane level and also with regards to abilities explored. I guess it is the monotony that gets to them. There are quite a few who break the shackles after a few years, make their money and move on. But the majorities of us are creatures of habit and tend to get habituated in our accumulated comfort zone.

I sincerely hope people become aware of the other side of the success story. We do not need these self destructive penguins setting a precedent in the market. I am aware of the loan repayment objective of students. But hope they don’t get too comfortable. If we want the next big online presence from India like Zuckerberg, action stemming from awareness is the key!!

Note: Chest congestion is a redundant ailment of mine!