The Hindu Business Line : Does the bell toll for us too, worry IT employees

If one thought the traffic congestion, crowds at eating joints during lunch hour and a stroll for few, portrayed one type of picture, the inner feelings were very different.

For the employees of the many IT companies located in and around the Hi-Tech city area, the infotech hub of the city, it was business as usual 48 hours after the shocking revelation by the Chairman of Satyam Computer Services, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju.

But most of them, especially the home-grown companies told Business Line, “If it can happen in Satyam, then why not in ours.”

“Everything from outside appeared rosy until Mr Raju came up with the self confession on Wednesday. So if a company listed in India and abroad with around 53,000 associates can dare to fudge its funds, then why not ours which is not as big as Satyam,” said Rahul, who works with a software development firm.

“Everybody is feeling insecure after Satyam’s fiasco and our solidarity is with our counterparts in Satyam. From an employee perspective, what matters most is the performance and like anybody else in the industry, they too slogged. They should not be punished for the mistakes of their management. I feel other major companies should not stigmatise them and should welcome them in view of their industry experience,” feels Mr Sreenivas, an employee of Ness Technologies.

Akhila, working with a Hyderabad-based firm said that all companies should do a self introspection. “All of us depend on our employers for our daily bread. Even if the companies do not give us huge annual hikes, at least they must not do what was done in Satyam; not only those who are working there but also their families are going through severe trauma,” she said.

While on the other hand, employees of companies who are based in the US but have operations here have a different view. “The Satyam saga is not as huge as what has happened in the past in the US. But we feel that the checks and balances of the regulators in the US are better and more stringent, but then we cannot be totally sure because if something were to come to light, then it will be a different story altogether,” Shaun Phillips, a US-citizen who is on an official visit, said.

Sandhya from ValueLabs thinks that it could happen to everybody in the industry. “Everybody is sympathetic to them. The situation is more dangerous for the entry level staff and those who have huge financial commitments. In the long run, this may also set a bad precedent making youngsters look beyond IT in choosing their careers,” she said.

More Stories on : Human Resources | Software | Satyam Computer Services Ltd

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