The axe effect in a stinking time

PUNE: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your future plans.

It could not be more true for anyone else than the IT employees, a genre that was the most pampered and consequently most envied lot amongst all job sectors.

Amidst a job climate of perks, cushy salaries, foreign projects etc all that they might have been worrying over just a few months back was which flat to buy or which company to hop over to.

Today the gravy train has almost capsized. The roller coaster has now turned south.

It's your boss who's now calling the shots on the job issue. With a scenario where even the biggies are handing over pink slips in hordes to their blue-eyed boys, you never know when the axe might fall on you. So how much of your worry is real? And what to do when you are living on tenterhooks?

These are times to worry, but not for all, and not in the negative sense.

Insights from industry watchers like Kris Laxmikanth from The HeadHunters would tell you that profiles like project managers with about four to five years of experience or the ones in BFSI or employees, who have been on a bench for quite some time now, should be the first ones to hear the warning bells.

If your HR has handed you a sabbatical, accept the reality and start for other options.

"About 100,000 to 150,000 professionals of Indian origin are also expected to come back to India, which is still a relatively safe and attractive market from a job perspective. For those sitting here, it's time for trends like L+1, independent contracting and relocations."

His advice is pragmatic and very well timed. It's a scenario where companies, depending on the contract reviews in the coming quarter, are expected to go for severe cost rationalizations.

It won't be a surprise if job cuts make a major part of it. So, start volunteering. Tell your senior that you would be willing to take up and deliver a job above your current level (i.e. L+1) or take up a position in a small city or tier-3 town where the company may still have need but not many takers for a job (in short, relocate).

It's also the time where an IT professional can realize and reap the virtues of cross-skilling. For instance, as Jitendra Tanna, VP, Fujitsu Consulting India Pvt Ltd, advises, instead of wondering and worrying sitting at home, improve your skills, make your CV more salable and more future-proof.

"Get open for everything. If so far you were a seasoned services guy, opt, in fact volunteer for a products job, if need be. Go for new certifications like PMI etc or management courses or new technical areas."

These would also be times, when if not start-ups, independent contractors, would sprout out of the senior lot coming out of the exit door.

Laxmikanth explains, "Internet gives the advantage of working from home, and such jobs entail no tax payments while job compensation can be paid through the Net. It's a trend in the west and India might catch on to that now."

There are two short tips. 'Back-up' and 'Don't panic'.

It's getting cold out there and so, it's time to hibernate. Save. I know I may sound a little incongruous in times of credit-card lifestyles or a life that runs on EMIs. There's no harm in living a good life, but the old-school rule of 'saving for a rainy day', stays true.

A future running on debt is no future at all. Back-up also has a non-monetary side. There's no harm in having a skill or profession as a back-up like that of a teacher or a sales guy or a writer hibernating behind your everyday job title of an engineer?

As to the 'Don't panic' mantra, I would simply repeat what Tanna says, "It's time to be cautious but don't lose your sleep over it. Think and ask where the market is going. Look outside. It's time to gaze out of the box."

So, yes, the axe may appear sharp. But you can still cut wood with it.

As another adage rightly says- Tough times don't last. Tough guys do.

And what is your opinion, will the cautious move help us make good times out of the tough times?