IT’s Recession Obsession
In the words of the great poet, Oscar Wilde — ‘The gems working in the IT industry shine brighter than the diamonds extracted from coal fields’. Alright, he never said that but I have noticed that linking a famous person to a quote bestows weight to the words. Much better suited to the write up would be ‘truth is rarely pure and never simple’ — no points for guessing, the same epigrammatist.
IT, quite well misinterpreted as the container for the most lucrative jobs, seems to be running the fib pretty well. A truth once, is still believed by many on the outside. However, the inner circles do understand the complexities brought on by the huge influx of people which has tilted the demand much lower vis a vis supply. Each position has numerous contenders and the pick, mostly, goes to the lowest ask for renumeration. Specially in a county like ours, graduates had started compromising with the fact that they won’t be anywhere near their expectations any time soon. Here is where the new kind of gluttony rears its ugly head.
The companies which pipe up as a dream with promises of treating the employees as royalties slowly start craving for profit only, even if it means walking over certain cadavers. The definitive path adopted initially included fencing out the slowest steps to any functional path, which was the last humane thing the higher managements in India decided to accomplish. When nothing else seemed to work in their favour, the recession of 2008 acted like a godsend. Even with the companies that were hit for nothing, this meant being able to take steps that would otherwise be frowned upon. From ensuring pay cuts and layoffs, from removing paper towels and paper cups, from reducing onsite travel (one of the only perks) and time flexibility — everything that an employee could look towards for a respected living made out of expensive education, got knocked out. How do I know that this was merely a fox in sheep’s clothing — none of the benefits got rolled back once the situation brightened and the employees have ever since been looking towards the heaven with a sigh of hope like the prisoners of war in the middle eastern countries.
The sorrow of the last harassment hadn’t even lifted entirely when the new strike came on — the COVID19. Now, make no mistake — this is in no way a jab at the folks struggling with the containment of the disease but just the IT management which is hell bent on making sure that it profits of every high and low. In this phase of every one being in lockdown in their abodes — the only ones who are still and, if I may say so, even more than usual at hard work are the bonded labour of the IT industry. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I state that almost all of the organizations would be sitting on their most profitable quarters with no leaves being utilised or encashed and employees working more than the allotted hours. As if this wasn’t enough, it was decided to milk the opportunity even further. Being the month of March, the townhalls and annual company meets were organized on calls to let the pep talk flow through — yearly leaves at risk, no bonuses for those who worked their asses off and either delayed or no appraisals. Setting delays for even those who have their yearly cycles set at September/October after the audacious statement — ‘the future can’t be predicted’. If the future is so bleak and the incoming revenue so unsure, why not hold off on the business for a while and resume once there is indemnity instead of providing a social service to the clients and grating the individuals while robbing them of their hard earned growth?
Looking at both the events concurrently, any well minded being can understand the heist being pulled — concomitance of recession and the rip off is inevitable. None of this is a generalisation and there could still be a company or two breaking the norm, even in India. Still whatever may be the thought process of millions in the industry, it’s the only way of keeping the lights on and even if one looks through the injustice — shake hands with the instigator, smile at the unwitty jokes and move on!!!
