I work for am IT services major. To
put it right, I have been working for IT major companies for around 8.5 years
now. This is my 2nd job. The first job was with an IT services
major again.
To get some background of this
industry, the industry started growing in late 90s and then grew very
aggressively in early 2000s. The dark recession of 2008, changed the growth
pattern of the industry. Since then, the growth has been limping.
I consider myself as one of those
lucky ones, who saw this industry grow, saw it boom and then saw it slow down
and also see it saturate. So, effectively what has changed in the industry is
not just growth of the companies, but a lot more than that. I also thought of
the changes in the industry from my perspective.
When I joined in mid 2004, it was
time when the economy was showing positive signs of recovery and the business
outlook was indeed positive. So, companies started to so called “cautious
hiring”. So, engg grads like me had a couple of days of bench and were
allocated to projects.
I vividly remember, it took me
half a day to get my first project. I had very less or to be more
precise no idea about .NET technology nor PL/SQL. I was forced to learn both
good enough to do the basic project tasks in a week’s time. A week
after I completed my training, I was billable. I reported to a
module lead/mentor (one of the finest professionals I have come across) who was
1.5 years senior to me. My team lead was 3.5 yrs in industry. My manager was
5.5 yrs in the industry.
If I look at the scenario today, the
engg grads in service industry get their first assignment (stable assignment)
after 1.5 years. At an approx experience of 4 years, one gets to mentorship
role/module lead role. To get become a lead it indeed takes 7 years of exp in the
industry. Why has the growth slowed down in these 8 years?
Answer is
very simple and straight, the economy and the industry has saturated in growth.
The sector is no longer seeing the aggressive growth pattern which was seen 7-8
years ago. I am sure most of us who work in this industry realize this.
Every IT worker is referred to as a
resource. Suddenly the term resource became a taboo. The new term called
“Associate” emerged. “Associate” as a more sophisticated word which was indeed
nice to hear. This is because, there as sudden surge in demand to retain the
existing employees in the companies. The talent market had a dearth of
employable people. So, companies had to retain the employable talent. Thus more
respectful terms emerged.
This created a sudden need for large
number of engineering grads in the country. As a result many engg colleges
mushroomed in the country. All of them indeed made good profits. IT also became
a dream profession for many.
I remember the IT legend N
R Narayana Murthy quoting “our assets walk out of the door every evening
mentally and physically tired. We
must make sure that they come back with a zest to work”. The emphasis was certainly on ensuring the employee
retention.
I still remember few of my seniors
getting offer letters from other organizations and getting the desired hike in
their current job. The thought of decoupling people and the project
was always in place.
I remember the companies celebrated
fests like Diwali – Sweet boxes and gifts were distributed to all the employees.
There was family day, when the employees could get their families to the work
place. A lot of fun and food was arranged at the company’s cost!!!. Till
2007 we had new year parties also celebrated!!!
I don’t indeed see such regular
fests any more.
If I look at the compensation
structure too, I see a sea change. Variable pay was something unheard in the
2004(at least at the junior level). These days, I see the salary structure made
up numerous variable components. Needless to say, none of them are paid at
full.
So with said as above, where are we
heading to? How will the next 8 years be? What will be the state of industry
after 8 more years(in 2020)?
Let us see wait and watch the
future…
