As boom bubble bursts, techies hope it too shall pass

Bengaluru: Not too long ago, skilled software professionals experienced a greater boom and demand. Startups offered attractive joining bonus and even facilitated moonlighting, which triggered a debate. But the scenario has now changed for the worst. The layoffs, salary cuts has hit the professionals in the industry hard.

The news of IT giant Wipro laying off more than 400 fresher employees for poor performance in internal assessment tests became a national news. Their termination letter maintained that the employees are liable to pay Rs 75,000 of training cost which the company has spent on them. But, the amount is being waived off.

Commenting on the development, Wipro stated officially that it takes pride in holding itself to the highest standards. As per the standards the aim is set for all. From every entry level employee it is expected to have a certain level of proficiency in their designated area of work. The evaluation process includes to align employees with the requirements of clients and the business objectives of the organization. "The recession has hit the industry. There is slow down," says a founder of an IT startup in Bengaluru, which just completed the merger. Contradicting the point, Amrita Chandan, a senior software professional explained that the process is more of trimming down unnecessary expenditure.

"This phase has hit those seniors very hard, who enjoyed perks, benefits and huge salaries just by experience. The companies are identifying waste of resources and unwanted posts, taking action. Even today, there is no threat to proactive worker, who is delivering, manager or worker," she explained.

Bengaluru-based Edtech giant BYJU'S, after making news for massive layoffs in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, faced allegations of threatening its employees to resign in the Karnataka state capital. Sources explained that the employees are being asked to immediately resign or face terminations which would affect their career prospectus.

Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) has stated that BYJU'S is laying off employees in headquarter Bengaluru. KITU Secretary Sooraj Nidiyanga said that BYJU'S employees are reluctant to resign but they are forced to do so. The HR department is indulged in getting resignations forcefully from employees.

While talking about the challenges of making Infosys flourish for at least 100 years, on the occasion the IT giant completing 40 years in the industry, Chairman and Co-founder Nandan Nilekani said that even 40 years later the company is still flourishing because of three 'R's'.

"Relevance, responsiveness and resilience. You need to be relevant in business and Infosys has ensured that it is relevant to customers by offering the latest services. Massive investments have been made for reskilling and there is no drama and no surprise," he explained.

"In a short span of three years, we experienced the challenge of Covid, work from home was implemented, after that getting them back to work was a challenge. Later, faced with a high attrition rate and now its economic slowdown. How we respond to these situations is important. A structure has to be created and great leadership would ensure efficient management not only for the next generation but for the next 60 years."

Nilekani further said: "Will I be able to earn the respect of all the stakeholders 20 to 30 years from now. When you think of respect everything falls in place. Happiness is a positive cash flow. If you are burning cash, you lose discipline."

The industrial sources explain that the fresh talent fool is facing dearth of opportunities in the sector. The openings are few and college campus selections are put on hold. However, all are hoping for the best and return to their halcyon days.