I’m trying to call my friend, but his cell phone is unreachable for past 2 days. I call his home and they tell me he is in office, and that he has carried his phone too. Why is he unreachable then? Finally I send him e-mail, asking him to call back. He does.
Excerpts:
Me: Where the hell are you?
Friend: eh?
Me: I’m trying to call for past 2 days, you are unreachable.
Friend: ah! Yes I know. I switched my cell phone off. Sorry!
Me (puzzled): Why?
Friend: Ok listen to this. 3 days back, I updated my resume on a couple of online job portals (such as naukri.com, jobsahead.com, monsterindia.com, timesjobs.com, jobsdb.com). Ever since I did that, I’m continuously getting phone calls from several software companies. Gauge this: In morning alone I got 8 lucrative offers. I’m unable to focus on my work anymore.
Me (stunned): huh!
Friend: And these are not emerging companies, these are the big boys. You know that software companies are on expansion spree and they are frantically grabbing every bit of talent they can. Apart from the phone calls, I’m also getting more emails that I can read – not just from Mumbai but from the other software hubs too: Pune. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. I’m simply deleting them.
Me: oh my god!
Friend: Frankly I’ve lost count, I don’t know who wants to hire me for which position and responsibilities.
Me: err.. ummm… ugh… zzz…
Friend: That’s why I switched off my cell phone. I’m not prepared to handle this.
(translated into English from a mix of Marathi, Hindi and English)
This is a real situation. If I stand on the street today and announce ‘I don’t have a job’, ten people will gather around and place handsome offers. For those who are working in booming sectors like software, BPO’s, Engineering and Construction etc, you are offered a job even if you are not actively looking for one.
Today, a student graduating from any engineering college, having passed the entrance test is assured of a high paying job for a long time. However, few of these freshers or trainees stay in the company for over two years. They are easily lured away by promising job offers, one after another. The average time an employee spends in a company has declined to alarming limits, and the HR (Human Resources) team is fighting a losing battle to retain the talent.
Attrition has been a major problem of the IT (Information Technology) and ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) since past several years. Giants like Infosys, Wipro, TCS etc complain of steep attrition rates haunting their companies. This trend has silently crept into sectors other than IT too. The salaries may not be as high, but the supply – demand ratio is a miniscule fraction. How do you get out of this?
You can’t. Can you?
So where does this take us? (To be elaborated in another post.)
The problem of plenty is real. And not all of it is a healthy sign in the long run.
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Hi dude, I completely agree with you. There is a lot of boats chasing the same fish. This will lead to spiralling salaries and inflation, which will be detrimental to our growth rate. Already, the top management is getting around 4-6 crore a year. We have hardly picked up speed in development and we are already stuck with attrition and infrastructure problems.
↵I will quote S Ramadorai, TCS Chief. He said, “Six and half lakh engineers and Ten million science graduates. How many of them are good enough for job”. (Note: I have changed the wordings a little).
India is lagging behind both in the quality and quantity of engineers and managers. We need more institutes like IITs and IIMs. Otherwise, the last 3 years will only serve as a reminder of the days when we thought that we too, could become a superpower.
People ARE jumping and this IS a very short term phenomena. Once we lose the cost advantage, nobody will look at us. Indian companies need to innovate rather than just serve if they wish to remain alive.
↵I agree with all above comments. our quality is just not good enough to propel us ahead. this trend is seen is virtually all the sectors.
↵and while we enjoy the fruits of globalization, the lowest worker class still struggles for a square meal a day.