Beyond the Bench

Circa 1999: The CEO and HR head of a leading software development company are
locked in a serious discussion. It is about the high attrition rate witnessed by
the company in recent times. There is a lengthy discussion on how difficult it
is to manage client expectations and hire the ‘perfect combination of IT
skills’ at short notice. The HR head is asked to hire a bunch of fresh MCA’s
and B Tech’s and schedule them for project-oriented training.

Skills that Sell

ERP/CRM/SCM: SAP, PeopleSoft, and functional experts.

Internet: J2EE, WebSphere, and Weblogic

Mainframes: IBM S/390, Web enabling existing MF applications and maintenance

RDBMS: Oracle 9i and 11i, embedded software and Linux

Circa 2001: The CEO and the HR head are caught up in a discussion again. This
time though, the HR head is told to trim the workforce by 50%.

Circa 2002: The CEO and the HR head meet again. The mood is still somber, but
there is hope on the horizon. Projects have begun to trickle in and the company
needs people again. However, the largesse of the IT boom is missing. The CEO’s
command of "Go out and get the best, whatever it takes," has been
replaced by "Hire people as we need them. ROI is crucial".

The job market has had its highs and lows and ironical situations like the
one described above are being played in companies across the IT industry. For IT
professionals across the world, the slowdown has indeed been a learning
experience. And for far too many Indian whiz kids, the American dream ended as a
nightmare. With the baggage of bruised egos and broken careers,
homecoming was not easy. The smart ones consoled themselves and began ‘to
explore their roots’ as ‘they wanted do something to India’. Too
proud to return to India without a job, others stuck on in the US, hoping
something would work out, somewhere. Still others shed the erstwhile arrogance
about ‘accepting assignments only in the US, nowhere else’ and moved to
projects in Germany, Italy, Malaysia or even Dubai. And finally, a good many
simply caught the next flight to India. Now, finally, the gloom seems to be
lifting. The IT job market is showing certain signs of revival. This could well
be the end of being on the ‘bench’.

Is IT happening?

Is IT recruitment really picking up? "Not on a very large scale, but it
is happening very slowly," says Rajan Bhatnagar, MD and CEO, Jobcurry.com.
"The positions that have been open for several months are gradually being
filled now. Most companies that had put recruitment on hold are closing the
positions. For instance, we have placed over 30 candidates in the last three
months on assignments in India and abroad. However, placements abroad have
become tougher, because candidates are more conscious about job security these
days and are unwilling to leave their current jobs in India for ones abroad.
"This factor has increased the domestic demand and we expect this trend to
continue," adds Bhatnagar.

 Agrees Cognizant Technology Solutions senior vice president R
Chandrasekaran, "We do not find any new momentum in the recruitment
activities of IT organizations. The focus of organizations in the last couple of
months has been to review their existing work force and to deal with new campus
recruits. As most organizations had built a significant buffer earlier, there
seems to be no need for large-scale recruitment," says Chandrasekaran.

Does that mean recruitment is not happening at all? No, the situation is not
that bleak. The slowdown has clearly changed recruiting patterns. For instance,
companies are realigning their processes towards the offshore model and this is
where recruitment happens in India. For instance, American Megatrends, a US
based leader in storage software and computer utilities has set up a 20,000
square feet development facility near Chennai recently. The company, which has
recruited around 200 professionals, will add more than 1000 staffers in a
two-year period when the facility becomes fully operational.

Comments Sruthi Sagar Ananthachari, VP, international operations and HR,
Covansys India, "Today, companies are moving a bulk of activities offshore,
as it is economically viable. Considering the value proposition of the offshore
model, European and US companies view India as an ideal destination."
Covansys, which currently employs around 1,500, has plans to expand its offshore
activities. In fact, the company evidently has plans to triple its work force in
order to increase its offshore revenues from 25 % to 40%. TCS meanwhile, has
spruced up its offshore IT infrastructure at its Sholinganallur facility near
Chennai. The company has laid out an ambitious roadmap for Linux based services
in alliance with IBM. Like TCS, many IT companies are exploring Linux, an area
that will see recruitment happening in the coming days. For instance, Oracle
Corporation has decided to run its whole business on Linux. Oracle is replacing
three of its UNIX servers that currently run the major part of its business in
US with a cluster of Intel based servers running Linux. According to analysts,
this move by Oracle will give a major fillip to Linux based services worldwide.

Demand drivers

With global majors like IBM and Oracle going the Linux way, it becomes
evident that Linux based skill sets will be sought by companies in the coming
days. Infosys Technologies senior vice president HRD Hema Ravichander says,
"Recruitment has always been active for specific roles and technology
areas. Companies are still interested in capable people." Today, a software
professional has to be agile and willing to learn new technologies in a short
span of time. "At Infosys, we have always focused on recruiting employees
who demonstrate the ability to derive knowledge from specific experiences and
apply the same to new situations," adds Hema.

While the demand for skilled workers is still there, the slowdown has ushered
in a change in perception. For instance, competence is the key deciding factor
today. Gone are the days when a candidate could find a place in an IT company
based on a mere professional degree. While this has become the base
qualification, to be on the payrolls one needs to have strong domain expertise.
Observes E Balaji, GM, selection and quality, MaFoi Management Consultants,
"Companies that are recruiting right now are quite particular about the
quality of the personnel, unlike in the past when anybody who had a basic
training in IT could land a job. Today employers are looking for people with
domain experience in live projects."

Given that, what kind of people are companies looking at right now? "ERP
and CRM related skills such as implementation specialists and database
administrators will continue to be in demand. High-end Internet technologies
like J2EE, Web logic, and WebSphere will be sought after as the economy gains
momentum. In fact, in areas like Linux and embedded software, I see a shortage
of skilled personnel down the line," says Bhatnagar.

ERP is one area to watch out for. For instance, SAP skill sets are very much
in demand now. Says Balaji, "We see a clear resurgence of SAP, mainly
because of its flexibility. It was among the first ERP vendors to foray into SCM
and CRM solutions and created the market demand." ERP, which was written
off a couple of years ago, is back. The reason– the competitive advantage it
brings to the enterprise. Also, there is a growing realization that a successful
enterprise should have a healthy mix of legacy systems and new technologies.
Reflecting on this, Sailesh Menezes, manager, strategic resourcing, Wipro
Technologies says, "Large corporate houses are consolidating existing
systems and processes. The primary drivers that will help bring about this
transformation are ERP, SCM and CRM technologies, which will be in demand in the
future."

Verticals in focus

While ERP is poised for big times ahead, the next major market movers will
be banking, finance, and the insurance sector. While this sector is recruiting
IT talent extensively, there are other verticals like pharmaceuticals, telecom
and manufacturing, which are also generating good interest. The government is
also set to emerge as a major sector that will use IT with many state
governments launching various e-governance initiatives. Says Balaji, "We
have witnessed a good growth in the number of placements relating to the
financial sector.’’

Marketing IT

Companies have all along been focusing on technology, and the ones that are
beating the slowdown, are doing so with a pro-active marketing team. Technical
expertise alone is not sufficient today. Whether it is products or projects, it
all boils down to marketing. With the slowdown, the emphasis on marketing has
become pervasive. Today many IT companies are on the lookout for business savvy
CEO’s, marketing heads, and business development managers. For instance
TriVium, a CRM major in the country is expanding its sales force across the
country. Meanwhile, Chennai based Ramco Systems is laying stress on business
development. The company is planning to hire marketing professionals all across
the world.

Europe calling?

The tech meltdown in the US has prompted IT professionals to explore new
geographies that were traditional non-destinations a few years back. Europe
today is considered as the potential market that is expected to absorb a sizable
number of professionals. While opportunities exist in countries like Germany,
Italy, Belgium, and Finland, a major deterrent that discourages many to take
assignments outside the traditional UK market is– racial discrimination. For
instance, Germany, which launched the green card scheme a couple of years back
to popularize permanent residence in the country, had a serious setback when
Skinheads (a group against Asians and Africans, also called Neo Nazis) assaulted
the first green card incumbent. Hence, xenophobia is very much a reality in
countries like Germany and Italy. Also, language is considered as a major
barrier. Opportunities in Europe are like a double-edged sword and due to these
factors, the US still remains the most preferred destination for the majority of
IT job seekers.

Freshers in a fix

It is April and educational institutions across the country are churning out
thousands of BEs, BTechs and MCAs. What prospects do they have in a market
choked with experienced IT professionals? The mood in university campuses across
the country is one of hope and despair. Hope–that the market picks up. Despair
–about the reduction in campus recruitment. Analysts attribute the reduction
in campus recruitment to excess availability of experienced IT workers who were
willing to take a salary cut due to the slowdown. This group becomes the ideal
choice for companies. The result - campus recruitment has not taken place in a
big way. Also, many IT companies are still grappling with last year’s campus
recruits, who were not assigned any full time projects. For instance, a
prominent engineering college near Chennai was shocked when the leading company
that had earlier offered appointment letters to more that 150-graduating
students, later reduced the intake to 50 % of the by revoking the appointments
to the majority. For freshers in the IT industry, the road ahead is challenging
indeed.

G Shrikanth in Chennai