Thoughtfully written and largely true (though there are quite a few typos that you must ignore), IT Survivors - Staying Alive in a Software Job, raises some questions which one has been hearing a lot these past few years.
IT work culture in India is totally messed up and has now started harming the work culture of the nation as a whole.I think this whole long hours, servile attitude culture has two sides to it. One, Harshad's side, the point that companies need to stand up and shoo away this disastrous transformation in working lives. Two, the other side, where I'd like to perceive the working individual as an empowered person, capable of deciding what is harmful or not and more importantly, capable of saying no. Most people who work in a long hours setup where everything has a deadline of yesterday are quite aware of the fact that they are being overworked. However they think that it is a fair deal for the money that they are offered. There are loans that have already been taken, dreams of a materially better life that have already taken root in the mind, wishful fancies that have fostered the notion of an early and happy retirement with cartloads of cash to spare.
Plush offices, fat salaries and latest gizmos can give you happiness only if you have a life in the first place.
The reason I feel this culture has emerged, is the servile attitude of the companies. Here's a tip for any company in the west planning to outsource to India. If you feel that a project can be completed in 6 weeks by 4 people, always demand that it be completed in 2 weeks by 3 people.
Has anyone in India ever worked on a project that wasn't "extremely critical"?
When souls are ready to be pledged, why wouldn't companies strike a bargain?
It is always about the money and its motions my dear.
7 comments:
Software companies in India are notorious on this particular thing. They extract lots of work from the employees and often they will have to work like 50-60 hours a week instead of 40.
The main reason in my opinion is the bachelor guys. They want to come to work late and stay late hours. Most people take note of guys who work late and are impressed with them. So in order for the rest of the folks to catch up they also end up staying late.
The main people who are affected by this are married guys who really have a family and life. In order to compete and survive amongst the young bachelor engineers they also end up working late and more than 10 hours a day.
From the management side, the focus seems to be in saving cost (by under staffing projects) rather than getting a quality product out.
Cost is a very important factor in anything, but in most Indian companies that seems to be the only factor.
I think this is too generic to pin point.
Yes, IT companies in India are overloading their staffs and this is certainly atrocious. But on the other hand, we should also look at the atrocities created by the staffs too. As Vimal rightly pointed out, they come in late, chat all day, go for coffees and smokes, and sit back after six to complete their work. Sometimes its even worse, people come to office on weekends because it’s the “in thing” to work on weekends. They browse the whole day since internet is free and create an impression that they work hard.
If once side there are companies trying to bring down the costs by using lesser resources, the same company will have 50 odd people in bench or projects that run for the sake.
Some work in this ever perennial “extremely critical” projects, will some are happy to complete Harry potter in two straight days. This imbalance is only in India.
All said, there is another threat, the threat to our bread and butter. India was chosen because of its cheap and quality labour and their knowledge of the English language.
China has never has problems with cheap labor. Quality is not something that cannot be enforced, the only problem they have is their English fluency. With their government taking steps to address that issue. We will loose the race if we are choosy.
People in the west work less and the incurred cost was high, this worked in our favour. If we try to follow them, we too will face the same problem one day!
Echo, we all are stuck in this IT work culture. How many people do you think will say no to these crazy schedules? Not many I guess, the percentage will be very less. This might get crazier in the future days as competition heats up. Is there a solution to this? I am not sure. But we can take some necessary must precautions to stay healthier, focused and fit. Yoga and working out in a gym are the two best possible solutions to stay focused and healthy. Frequent vacations (at least two) in a year should be must. We should work out our work schedules in such a way that weekends are spent entirely with family and friends. Working from home concept should increase. And not but the least our employers should show some care and concern towards their employees.
@amk - Call me an idealist and offer me a sound smack but I shall still wonder - are we ever well and truly stuck? We all definitely get into tight corners but isn't there a way out? Always? If not immediately, at least a way out if one looks for it?
Thanks for sharing this link :-). Loved the article and can identify with it a lot. I have been wanting to write up my experiences in IT for a while now. Reading this has made me type it all up.
Its all in the mind of self. Everyone want recognition. If they find that working late is recognised then they follow it.If they find that talking is the most recognised and climbing the ladder is quicker then people go in for that. Even if they are quiet people they tend to develop the art. Its really very funny where people choose to be recognised as what others want and not exactly what they want.Even if you are the odd person out you soon will find yourself moving their way unless not compelled otherwise.
@Anon:
"Its really very funny where people choose to be recognised as what others want and not exactly what they want."
>>Interesting comment that. I think it is important to be self-aware as individuals. No, I am not just talking about self-confidence here, though that is important too; I am talking about an individual actually sitting down and thinking through very clearly what his or her strengths are and then focusing on using them in a value-rich manner. Simply aping someone else's tactics is a recipe for long-term disaster. Eventually it will boil down to wondering what exactly one stands for.
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