We want to develop products, cries software engineers: Study

BANGALORE: The fast growing and upwardly mobile tribe of software engineers in India feels

that it would be better off with more work on the software development side than merely

attending to projects and services. It also seeks better compensation from the employers.

These are some of the findings of a study conducted by

Gallop MBA India Pvt. Ltd. for Lucent Technologies titled "Understanding the software

mind". Samples were picked up from Lucent, Wipro and SAS Institute. 70 per cent of

the 75 samples selected were of about 24 years of age. The study sample had an average

experience of two years and an average of 1.75 jobs.

Though, software projects are considered as highly

team-oriented job, only 57 per cent of the software engineers said they had a good friend

at work. About 80 per cent said they were comfortable in a team situation. On the

compensation, the engineers seemed to be aware of the fee that their employers were

charging the clients. Some of them reacted saying that they were satisfied with the

compensation, but when they saw the billings and found out how much their employers were

getting from them, they felt bad.

On the issue of empowerment, 81 per cent said that they did

not hesitate to air their opinions since their opinions counted (75 per cent). One of the

key concerns of the software engineers was their own insecurity. Some also felt that the

software boom might go bust.

A majority of those polled said that they should be doing

product development and not just projects. Some of their goals were starting their own

business consultancy or gain domain expertise. Though 59 per cent said that the future of

the country was bright in the area of software, about 38 per cent felt that the Indian

education system did not allow to learn much.

Interestingly, though almost all of those polled said that

they would like to go abroad, only 17 per cent agreed that they would want to settle out

of India if given a choice. Success to a software engineer is taking pride from the

profession and not necessarily from the organisation he or she worked for.

According to a Gallup official though the study was

restricted to a small sample, it more or less reflected the general perception and trend

of the targeted segment.