Techies struggle to retain job

Every IT company would once brag about the excess staff it had for upcoming projects, but now these very professionals are struggling to retain their job

JUST a couple of years ago IT companies would have people 'on the bench' for their upcoming projects. These 'benched' employees would spend most of their time in recreation rooms and still get their salaries until the company started a new project. Those were the glorious and prosperous days at an IT company. But those are bygones.

In the current scenario, the 'bench' is visibly shaken by retrenchment.

A leading company in engineering services and produce lifecycle management has sent many of its benched staff on six months leave. The company reasoned that there were no projects in hand.

But then, this is happening in most companies reeling under the impact of global recession. The ongoing Satyam crisis has only made it worse.

Software companies admit that things are not rosy in view of the global economic crisis and that it had affected the growth of the IT industry.

Atul Pradhan, managing director of Mansoft (an IT solutions provider and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Doha-based Mannai Corporation) told MiD DAY, "Our ambitious plans to grow from 100 to 200 staff has been severely hit. The company has stopped recruiting people, although we have not axed any of our employees.
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We, however, have stopped increment. No one demands high wages and no one offers high wages."

NASSCOM chief Ganesh Natrajan predicted that IT sector in India could see much lower growth in the current year and the next year because of negative sentiments. He added that uncertainty has increased also due to the Satyam crisis.

"Employment has come down. We will probably see one lakh jobs this year as against the expected two lakh. The problem has become severe due to Satyam crisis," Natrajan said.