IT has undoubtedly led a revolution in India's middle-class, enabling millions to aspire far beyond what their parents could imagine, and in turn, enabling electronic & consumer goods, construction, automobile and entertainment industries to bloom. Truly, IT has pushed India from just another third world country to the top league in the comity of nations.
However, is this a social bubble waiting to burst?
As the years have gone by, IT professionals have begun to believe that we were born special. Not that we got high salaries because of the demand supply gap, but because we were born special. We forgot we worked in air-conditioned offices, had free coffee and lunches, and got fat pay checks and bigger bonuses, while our smarter, more hard working peers in other "non-glamorous" industries slogged out for much less.
We forgot that we have a lot to learn in life. We forgot that 4 years in the industry, covered and cushioned by our managers and seniors, isn't all that life has to throw at us. We forgot that our sweet sounding American customers, who lavish praise on us today, are just being nice to us, and one mistake from our side is going to get us an equally harsh counter-reaction!
It's not uncommon for me, as a manager, to have my team members drop by asking for a change in project because "I have already spent six months on this project, and I do not see any more challenges"!! Really??!!
We want to get rich, and get rich fast! Come on, by the time I am 25, I want a BMW parked outside my bungalow by the river! No, not an apartment in a "society", I am an IT professional remember? And I have achieved so much in my professional life, a full 5 years!
What happens tomorrow if I get fired from because some other more hard working, dedicated and sincere fellow takes my job? What happens if the IT industry collapses from the heights it's enjoying today because the Chinese, or the Brazilians or the Vietnamese break the code and learn what it takes to do IT?
Who will pay my loans? Who will teach me what life is all about?
For our parents, the first 20 years of a career probably meant a lot of hardships and pain, fighting to survive, fighting to live a good life, and planning for their kids' education, a home, a car, and a good retirement where they wouldn't be dependent on their kids.
For the IT pros today, the first 5 years is about buying a coupe and a condo. Learning? What's that? I was born special!
5 comments:
Liked your post. But haven't the employers themselves largely contributed towards shaping this mindset? In the war for talent, they pick them up from campuses with fancy salaries, they offer a hike/promotion/project change to someone who threatens to resign, don't reject a CV if it shows too frequent job changes, etc. Maybe the recent recession has sobered down the "brats" as bit and the employers also shouldn't start spoiling them again now. On the other hand, the lay offs might just further make them not care too much about being loyal to/patient with a company
Oh, no doubt employers are very much to blame! I remember a couple of years back, a certain company we all love to hate offered campus hires a salary of 6L, when the standard market salaries were half of that. I know one company that does the same thing today. Poaching is rampant, with outrageous exemptions being made.
What the employees don't understand is that the exemption will catch up with them next time the salary hikes are due.
What they don't understand is that after 4 jobs in 4 years, the 5th one will be hard to land!
But you can't expect employers to care long term about individuals... so ultimately, the onus is on the employee to understand and take care.
Fantastic post. I agree with you completely. I felt this post is the mirror image of the thoughts those are parked in my mind for some time now.
Bingo! You got straight to the point. And all those comments coming from an IT professional too! ;-)
The repurcussions of a fall out (which is not if it will happen but rather when it will happen) will be huge- and every one will have to bear the brunt of it - irrespective of whether they are associated with the IT profession or not - pretty much like the fall-out that happened at the Wall Street.
IT as a profession is here to stay but just like "electricity was to stay after the discovery of it's applications" but will we still need the same numbers of professionals as are hired today?
There is a beautiful saying in Marathi "vidya vianayene shobate" -roughly translated to equate that the skilled should be humble(topic for another day - skilled doesn't necessarily mean intelligent). When time comes for Cesar to stumble atleast we don't want to say "Et tu Brute?". If we behave appropriately we may have support of the community when the bad times come. I would be saddened to see people rejoicing when the fall happens.
A Reader
Only 1/4th of the total engineers who pass out from engineering colleges are employable I hear.
Being an engineer itself is an achievement in the country of 1.2 billion.
In such a desperate proportion of haves and have nots, getting into those 1/4th in itself is the aim of life for many. They are trained to think in that direction only.
So when they make it their. There is nothing else they aspire for. They think now is the time to sit back and let things come to them on a silver platter.
They don't really care about adding value to their job.
Companies too I believe want only yes-sir type people who will have no independent thinking.
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