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THE HR FACTOR: The New Look on Indian IT’s Face

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DQI Bureau
New Update

He doubled as the marketing manager, the administrative support person, the

installation coordinator and sometimes even, the customer support engineer. You

could distinguish him in a crowd from the fact that he always wore a tie and

suit to work. He chased you all over town, trying to sell you one magic box that

cost 40 times your annual grocery bill. He spoke passionately about

"specs" and how his were better than the competition. But his

competition also said the same thing. It was all very confusing. You were wary

of him and in a word, you thought him a wee bit shady. Then came the EDP

managers, the database administrators, systems analysts, programmers and

operators who actually worked on these machines and coaxed them into doing

something. You understood them even less, but you regarded them with a little

more respect.

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Then

came what came to be called the ‘Knowledge Worker’. He spoke of Y2K and Java

and swimming pools in offices. He didn’t wear a suit, but casually spoke of

going to California for a few months on a project. He bought a car at 20 and a

house at 25. So you went to training institutes and technical courses. Because

now you wanted to be him.

The story of the IT pro



That’s it–the story of the Indian IT professional. A story that starts

with humble beginnings that most of today’s generation does not remember.

Dataquest did one of its first salary surveys in 1984. At the time, EDP managers

at the top of the food chain earned about Rs 4000 per month. Programmers were

the bottom of the food chain and started at about Rs 750 per month. Average

salaries across the industry were about Rs 2500 a month. There were no perks to

speak of. Of what were available, tellingly–the public sector offered better

perks than the private sector did.

There is one appointment advertisement that appeared in September 1983. Usha

Computers–a fairly big name of the time–was hiring three General Managers

(Marketing, Technical and Works). And they decided to use salary as the USP.

"Salary & Perks over Rs 1 lakh per annum," the ad read. A general

manager today makes twice that in one month. Most entry level professionals make

twice that in a year.

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By the time we did the next salary survey in 1989 salaries had risen to an

average of Rs 4,500 per month. Three years later–in 1992–they were still

about Rs 5300 a month with marketing professionals being the best paid in the

business. IT was still not the best paid profession in the country. In fact, it

wasn’t till the second half of the 90s that IT salaries suddenly exploded.

One could see the change coming on the covers of our own magazine. In 1994

Dataquest did a cover called The New Knowledge Worker. In October, there was

another cover called Look After Your People or Someone Else will. Clearly, times

were changing–for numerous reasons that you will read elsewhere in the

magazine.

The "be-suited sales rep" image of the industry was being replaced

the "be-spectacled nerd." By the time the stress on software exports

began and the Y2K boom happened, the Knowledge Worker had arrived and he was

demanding to be better paid and better treated.

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And he is. Most entry level professionals in the industry today make Rs 2 —3

lakh annually. By the time they have five years behind them, they double their

salary to about Rs 4-6 lakh annually. Within 10 years they’re earning up to Rs

12 lakh after which there are, almost literally, no limits. What the IT industry

in general and the software sector in particular has done to the HR environment

in the country is both fascinating and path-breaking. Salaries are only part of

that change. The bigger change has been philosophical–making money is not a

dirty word for the first time ever in socialist India.

The gyms and the swimming pools and the tennis courts at office were only

superficial manifestations of the new environment — one where employees were

no longer just a part of the wage bill. But were instead crucial assets that

companies did their best to keep.

Not that the new "knowledge capitalist" has had it easy. In one of

the worst downturns, the industry also witnessed largescale layoffs in 2001.

That was a price that had to be paid for becoming an asset–you get allocated

to your best use or you get ousted. Most, however, think that the price has been

well worth paying.

TEAM DQ

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