Slavery in Indian Software Industry

Surprised looking at the picture above? This was newspaper clipping was taken when Slave trade was prevalent in Africa. Don't be surprised to learn that Indian software industry in the name of software exports is exactly doing the same. What will we record in the annals of history? Can we use our figment of imagination and change a few lines in the above clipping to perfectly describe the trade today?

It has been 5 decades since we got Independence from British, but what remains unchanged is subservient Indian mentality. Today we are Global leaders in the Software Industry, but translate into happy employees and contented life? If Chinese manufacturing industry can be called sweatshop, Indian software industry is not far behind. It is more of slave trade that is happening in the industry today. The treatment meted towards employees by Indian corporate is lugubrious.

Long commute on congested, bad roads to an office outside the city, canteens with unappetizing food, grueling days that usually end late at night with frequent calls with clients and onsite team, this is the typical day in an IT industry. Our butterflies have turned into ugly moths. Constantly ringing mobile phones and unrelenting back and forth SMS, there is no reprieve from this on the weekends too. Managers have an uncanny knack of throw few extra carrots such as onsite opportunity and perks. Employers are unapologetic to call their employees on the weekends, a gross invasion of privacy, all in the name of their service level agreements and unrealistic project deadlines.

The cumulative result of all this has taken toll over their health, mind, body and relationships. Increase in stress, diabetes and heart ailments on the top list in young people, alarming increase in divorce rates. The young crowd caught in the net of EMI and their never ending desire list, is in a state of delirium. How to get out of the chakravyuham?

In western countries people clearly demarcate personal and professional life and religiously spend their weekends with their family. Work week means strictly 40 hrs of hard work and no play. Money is important in life, but not to this extent where one loses his/her personal space and family time. With this kind of uncompromising work schedule the software junta has metamorphosed into night owls and if this continues they certain to get burnt out very soon. Think about it....What is the use of wax without wick?

There is nothing wrong in fighting for work life balance. Indian corporate should not forget their social responsibility starts in their own work place and with their own employees. It is time bodies like Nasscom bring regulation in the software industry. Labor unions should be created in the software industry to bring back our good night sleep and family time. Bollywood must start making movies on this subject to bring out the hardships in the industry, rather than coming up with frivolous movies such as KANK.

Read this article that appeared in “The Hindu” dated Jan 20, 2007.

http://www.hindu.com/op/2008/01/20/stories/2008012052271400.htm

Work-life balance - Hema Subramaniam

This article is yet another outcry against the outrageous hours that Corporate India seems to demand. I have personally interacted with several HR managers on this subject and can appreciate that quite a few are grappling with initiatives to find a solution. One HR head of an MNC IT&ITES giant took my question on this subject with a rueful laugh and was honest enough to admit that there was no real solution to this.

I have lived and worked in both the U.S. and India. While I have seen “thought leadership” and “key executives” of several corporates work hard there, they have strictly maintained 40-hour weeks and sacrosanct weekends. While I concede there are exceptions here, I also believe that they have become more effective and productive because they are allowed to re-charge, pursue other interests and generally have a life.

I interact with zillions of middle and senior management executives in India. Here, it seems to have been reversed. Forty-hour weeks? Work-free weekends? That’s a joke in our “knowledge economy” bubble. Client calls will usually start when we should be winding down, because our clients are in a different part of the world, and they do not really give a damn that they are eroding into our private time. The crude logic being, the one who pays the piper calls the tune.
But should Corporate India meekly accept that? Could they not firmly and collectively send the message out that their executives are their wealth and should be better taken care of? Initiatives like “work from home,” flexi-work, etc., have not been successful. People who choose that option have become marginalised and subtly excluded, with their career clearly nose-diving.
This has forced most of them to give in and get back to the mainstream career force or make a tough priority decision. I have come across several “power women” who chose the work from home option. In a few months, they had to admit that it was killing their growth in the company.
We are a nation currently riding the knowledge economy wave. We have huge intellectual assets. We are using these assets to peddle knowledge. Should we not have the intelligence to realise that a relaxed and happy workforce would be more productive? Should we not realise that these “sweatshops” cannot endure?

Social implications
What are the social implications here? We have been gravitating towards nuclear families. Nearly every family I know of have a mortgage hanging over their head. Managing mortgages ensures that both the husband and wife have to work. Corporate India ensures that they go home late. In this situation, our children are trying to survive and grow up. Have they been given a choice? Would I prefer to have a parent around or a swanky car to go to school?
In one seminar, an HR head contested that work-life balance is about effective time management. I stoutly disagree. I can be an effective employee, but if my company has an unstated culture that rewards those who keep long hours (no link to productivity or merit) and frowns upon “clock-watchers,” then my goose is well and truly cooked.

Logically, “work-life balance” will remain a mere concept (useful for debates and workshops) unless there is a collective change in Corporate India. There has to be serious management buy-in and it has to be a wave that should ripple across all levels, and all domains.

Managers should be made accountable every time they request an employee to stay back. Clients should be embarrassed to consistently demand service at crazy hours. Employees should be less passive and question the need to work extra hours except in a crisis. Employers should create a culture across the company that puts all this in place and then shout from their rooftops if they have achieved this.