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Retaining best brains seems effortless for IT firms
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Retaining best brains seems effortless for IT firms
Though cash strapped, IT firms are now finding it almost easy to retain their best performers without shelling out big pay packets as job-hopping has lost its sheen in current economic scenario.
At several firms, employees are not even thinking about a hike because many think they will not get it and jumping out is out of question. Harvindar Singh (name changed), one of the employees at Infosys Technologies says, "The credit
crunch is pulling down attrition rate at Infosys, dissuading the company management from bringing in any retention measures. Now, employees` concern is safety and we are enjoying that to a great extend here. If we jump to another firm, we may not find this security comfort, though this approach has a dark economic side. One can also look up to this as a long term policy of a company to offset any probable backlash from employees."
When contacted, some employees were scared of speaking up about the issue as they thought this might adversely affect their career. Moreover, if they are fired, it would not be that much easy for them to find another job in this circumstance. However some said that they received emails from the top managements explaining about the financial crunch their companies are facing. The emails are also said to have a message for employees saying that they should not expect a usual kind of appraisal this time.
Raghuram (name changed on request), an employee from Oracle Financial Services, says, "Those employees who are asking for a hike are not always entertained. And if any hike is given, that would be only meager amount, well below the usual standards. Since hopping job does not make any sense in this trying situation, one has to be content with whatever is available."
Rahav Takur (name changed) was another man who talked to Siliconindia regarding the issue. "I was laid off from my previous firm along with many others. Now I got a job with Unisys with 30 percent hike in the pay. I am sure that if it was not for the slowdown, I would have got a 50 percent hike. But I need to accept whatever is available given the time."
The situation prevails not only in India. A news report cites the case of Walter Scott, a 20 year experienced IT professional based in U.S., whose bosses have had a severe fight with the company management to secure him a hike, though as meager as 1.78 percent.
Scott, a solutions architect at Verizon Business in East Meadow, New York, says he has helped land a few prominent deals since joining Verizon two years ago, including a $30 million contract with a health care customer in 2007. Though he could get only a tiny hike despite his big contributions, he does not think of quitting. "I am satisfied with my work though there are economic constraints," he says.
According to a report in Computerworld, the situation of Scott, who has had to adjust his personal spending in the face of surging cost-of-living, exemplifies the contemporary life of many other IT professionals all over the world as employers are pulling in the reins on salaries.
According to Computerworld`s 22nd annual Salary Survey, based on responses from 6,801 U.S. IT workers, total compensation (salary plus bonus) rose an average of just 3.5 percent this past year, reflecting little change over the 3.7 pe
rcent average increase reported in 2007. Meanwhile, bonuses for IT professionals rose by an average of only 0.2 percent in 2008, compared with 3.4 percent in 2007.
"I think IT professionals have reluctantly accepted that the days of special treatment for IT - which did endure for nearly a decade - are gone," the report quoted David Van De Voort, an IT workforce specialist, as saying.
Source:
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/48943
At several firms, employees are not even thinking about a hike because many think they will not get it and jumping out is out of question. Harvindar Singh (name changed), one of the employees at Infosys Technologies says, "The credit
crunch is pulling down attrition rate at Infosys, dissuading the company management from bringing in any retention measures. Now, employees` concern is safety and we are enjoying that to a great extend here. If we jump to another firm, we may not find this security comfort, though this approach has a dark economic side. One can also look up to this as a long term policy of a company to offset any probable backlash from employees."
When contacted, some employees were scared of speaking up about the issue as they thought this might adversely affect their career. Moreover, if they are fired, it would not be that much easy for them to find another job in this circumstance. However some said that they received emails from the top managements explaining about the financial crunch their companies are facing. The emails are also said to have a message for employees saying that they should not expect a usual kind of appraisal this time.
Raghuram (name changed on request), an employee from Oracle Financial Services, says, "Those employees who are asking for a hike are not always entertained. And if any hike is given, that would be only meager amount, well below the usual standards. Since hopping job does not make any sense in this trying situation, one has to be content with whatever is available."
Rahav Takur (name changed) was another man who talked to Siliconindia regarding the issue. "I was laid off from my previous firm along with many others. Now I got a job with Unisys with 30 percent hike in the pay. I am sure that if it was not for the slowdown, I would have got a 50 percent hike. But I need to accept whatever is available given the time."
The situation prevails not only in India. A news report cites the case of Walter Scott, a 20 year experienced IT professional based in U.S., whose bosses have had a severe fight with the company management to secure him a hike, though as meager as 1.78 percent.
Scott, a solutions architect at Verizon Business in East Meadow, New York, says he has helped land a few prominent deals since joining Verizon two years ago, including a $30 million contract with a health care customer in 2007. Though he could get only a tiny hike despite his big contributions, he does not think of quitting. "I am satisfied with my work though there are economic constraints," he says.
According to a report in Computerworld, the situation of Scott, who has had to adjust his personal spending in the face of surging cost-of-living, exemplifies the contemporary life of many other IT professionals all over the world as employers are pulling in the reins on salaries.
According to Computerworld`s 22nd annual Salary Survey, based on responses from 6,801 U.S. IT workers, total compensation (salary plus bonus) rose an average of just 3.5 percent this past year, reflecting little change over the 3.7 pe
rcent average increase reported in 2007. Meanwhile, bonuses for IT professionals rose by an average of only 0.2 percent in 2008, compared with 3.4 percent in 2007.
"I think IT professionals have reluctantly accepted that the days of special treatment for IT - which did endure for nearly a decade - are gone," the report quoted David Van De Voort, an IT workforce specialist, as saying.
Source:
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/48943
