Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Hypocrisy of Indian IT Companies

                                                                                                                                  
Well the author today intends to write a blog on a very common practice followed by most of the  IT companies in India.Almost all the Indian It companies follow the practice of making new joiners sign a bond according to which if the joiners quit the company before a stipulated period he/she should give a lump sum amount to the company. The logic often used by the IT firm is that since firms spend a huge amount of money on training fresh entrants the company has the right to fulfill the loss which it incurs due to premature departure of the employee.

Today the author will like to write a blog against this practice or rather malpractice of IT companies in India,Before presenting his view point the author will like to clarify that the topic is not based on some managerial analysis but on some philosophical ground whose inspiration comes from the holy spirit of Globalization & liberalization that intends to create a more fair,balanced & liberal market space.

The logic which is being put by these firms are pretty simple , since a huge amount of money is invested on individual training,so it is the right of the firm to make up that loss in case if someone quits early.Now let me ask if a company goes to a college, recruits someone and if the person after attending the firm for a few days does not feel like continuing shouldn't he be given the freedom to leave the firm without any constraint. Why the hell should this bond amount come into picture.Is this what globalization & liberalization teach us? Is this liberty?The very basic principal of globalization & liberalization is freedom ,freedom from every kind of draconian legislative rules that were once imposed,freedom from exorbitant taxes,freedom from regulations ,from high rate of custom duties,stiff labor laws, bandhs and gheraws. One must know that this freedom is not only for respective firms but also for respective employees because freedom cannot be a one way tool of human exploitation but an prevalent idea of human development. If globalization calls for flexible labor laws and supports hire and fire policies, it must also support giving basic freedom to each and every soul to hire and fire an organization. What is wrong if someone goes to a company and leaves it prematurely. It has to be his/her individual choice,one can leave the company for any damn reason,that might range from simple disinterest to availability of better opportunities. But why should he be forced to pay the bond amount.If he has to pay the amount then it simply means that in a liberal word a big company who has got strong clout in the pockets of power has the right to exert his independence but not an individual who is just a pawn in the game of exploitation often disguised as a free market economy.
In U.S also such bonds are there but there the bonds are two way bonds were if the employee leaves a firm prematurely he is suppose to pay a amount but even the other way round is also true where in case an employee is fired the company is responsible to pay an amount to the employee.Such systems are always valid since it gives equal rights to both that is the company as well as the individual.But how come the Indian way be a valid way where the entire rule system is biased towards the company with individuals having no right of his own.
The company often claims that the reason of such bond is the recovery of huge amount money that the company invests on the training of employee, now the author will ask do they spend such huge amount for mere charity purpose?They spend because of their own need, Spending in the recruitment and training is the basic necessity of the firm, so there is no reason to cry foul if some of the amount invested cannot be recovered back. It must be taken amicably ( as demanded by the holy spirit of globalization and liberalization.)

The reality is that no matter how much these firm cry in the name of globalization and liberalization but in reality these hypocrites still have sweet shop mentality. For them free market makes sense only when some govt. policy has to be annulled, only when flexible hire and fire policies have to be put in place, when land has to grabbed at lesser price to build factories and offices,when tax rates have to be reduced.When the same spirit of free market will demand something from them they will prefer running away.

(Views here are personal but the author wants that the gravity of the matter must be understood sooner or later so that public opinion can be gathered against it as soon as possible. One more point that the author wants to clarify is that though this malpractice is present in other industries also but since the author has a brief work ex with an Indian IT company and has a personal experience with such malpractice the term IT company is used.)

2 comments:

  1. the fear of lump sum amount bound the company and the freshers,
    The lesson of globalization & liberalization is for both company and the employer,
    The fresher got the tag of that company which he is leaving and the new company which is going to hire him/her is on the basis that the he/she has a work ex of some period of time in a particular company....

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