[Superleggera]

Vishal Vadav, who was working for Wipro Technologies jumped to death from multi storied Wipro building in Electronics city.

He was on LOP for 3 months and looks like a clear case of forced resignation. Its high time that some Govt. agencies screened all the IT companies induction and resignation/layoff policies. I heard from many of my friends that if thet are on bench for a certain period of time,they have been asked to sign couple of blank papers and if we don’t do that the HR will threaten that his name will be black marked in NASCOMM and he will not get a job ever.

I work with Wipro, and i am ashamed by the moral and attitude of the senior managers and HRs in this company.

May his soul rest in peace.



News: Techie jumps to death

Related article:Sacked Wipro employee alleges harassment - SiliconIndia

[greenhorn]

This will just mean that wipro will strenthen its policies to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.

The suicide I mean, not the layoffs.

And why are techies any different from any other suicides, say those of farmers ?

[spadival]

Originally Posted by Superleggera

they have been asked to sign couple of blank papers and if we don’t do that the HR will threaten that his name will be black marked in NASCOMM and he will not get a job ever.

Sigh.. Then whats the difference between the underworld goons and these HR guys? . Granted these HR guys don't hold a real gun to your head, but the threats and the method they employ is just as bad or even worse. At least the real estate mafia goons offer you decent compensation in exchange for your land.

I just wonder how these guys can sleep at night, knowing that they have blood on their hands.

[muni]

I Feel we cannot blame it mostly on the HR as they are just doing something they have been instructed to. The methods how they are using may be questionable for sure.

If a company is not doing well and during recession times when the projects have dried down, do you think the HR is responsible for that.

Its unfortunate that the person let go of his life like this.

The way the IT companies operate kinda reminds me of the Ant and Cricket story. Cricket made merry singing and playing music while the Ant planned for the bad times and collected food. Are we missing a trick somewhere by paying too much interms of salry perks and etc and not planning properly for future. The unnecessary pressure of reaching targets and having to show linear and steep growth is costing us dear. The IT careers IMO doesnt look like you can cross 15 or 20 years on an average.

The after effects of the IT careers is starting to show itself that it isnt all rosy the way it looks.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

And why are techies any different from any other suicides, say those of farmers ?

Because in India, cities are all that seem to matter? Actually, for the farmer, it is more of a last resort, given the limited choices he has, and his usual state of indebtedness. For an educated techie in an Indian city, there are actually plenty of options, if he was to just look around to see how many people are earning a living in the city.
And while this is a sad thing, it is an inevitable price to pay for the economic model that has been adopted by India.
As a company CEO, measured by bottom line growth only, what are the options to hire and fire? People behave in the way they are measured, that is human nature.
Actually there is an option. Bottom line protection only requires headcount costs to move up and down, not the number. So this can also be achieved by moving all salaries up and down in response to activity level changes.
But in any company that I have seen, and I have seen a few, if a company of 100 people was to reduce its headcount costs by 20%, it can do this by letting 20% people go, or all the people taking a 20% paycut. For the 80% that remain, a very vocal preference always has been to let 20% go, to the alternative of taking a 20% pay cut. Not just that, the expectation of a pay rise comes to the fore once the 20% have gone.

[Sawyer]

We also need to understand, wanting to ape the West in all that it does, how these things are done there. One just gets a termination letter. What Indian companies are trying to do - and creating other problems by doing this - is trying to obtain a resignation. Ironically, in the perceived interest of the person to be axed.

[Samurai]

In India termination letter is often a career death-knell. Generally companies don't want to hire somebody who was fired by the previous employer. In US it is an accepted fact of life that people can get fired for no fault of theirs. But in India termination letter still has some stigma attached to it. Therefore, mass layoffs are done in a soft manner, like LOP leave for 6 months while employee is free to look elsewhere.

Termination letter can trigger more suicides.

[Sawyer]

Yes, but I think this will change soon, the obtaining of resignations, as terminations become a normal feature that are understood by all to not carry the stigma they do today. The spirit of doing what is done today is correct, but the implementation goes awry, by the bureaucracy that either does not understand the spirit, or does not invest the time to translate it well. So the '' goondaism" to obtain the resignation letter. So that you save the person from a termination. Alice in Wonderlandish.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by muni

I Feel we cannot blame it mostly on the HR as they are just doing something they have been instructed to. The methods how they are using may be questionable for sure.

If a company is not doing well and during recession times when the projects have dried down, do you think the HR is responsible for that.

Correct. My sister has worked in HR and the amount of pressure they have to handle is very high. Higher than her current job of administration and management. And also not all are good HR humans. The method of implementation varies much, very much. Those who are not strong personalities are pressurized and threatened. But those who are of strong will have very nice words for HR.

This is all dependent on financial condition of company. But by no means any company can ask for signature on blank paper.

I had a bad experience with IT field ( very very short period, but came to know more about them ) and the outcome after 20 years did not seem positive for me. Left that for further studies.

Originally Posted by Superleggera

I heard from many of my friends that if thet are on bench for a certain period of time,they have been asked to sign couple of blank papers and if we don’t do that the HR will threaten that his name will be black marked in NASCOMM and he will not get a job ever.

The world needs good people working for them. And the threats like black mark, etc should be taken care of by media threats. End of one job does not mean end of life. India is a very restrictive minded country. If you are laid off, you are a lazy employee, anti social element, etc. The bad mentality is what I think is responsible for suicide.

[amitk26]

A termination letter means death knell to carrier particularly in Software service industry. These very companies who are giving pink slips treat the people who have break in carrier as Pariahs. Most of the time the so called managers / leads have no technical depth so instead of relying on interview techniques for recruitment they rely on authenticity of resume and no breaks.


I think the whole NASSACOM Blacklisting thing is nothing but a Mafia style intimidation method. it is the time that India has strong privacy laws.
A resume is not an affidavit and it is understood in rest of the world that employee has full right to dress it up but it is responsibility of employer to interview and find out skills.

[Samurai]

What is NASSCOM blacklisting, since when it became the INTERPOL of IT?

[hrag]

National Skills Registry, a NASSCOM initiative, that issues people an IT PIN (Professional Identity Number).

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by hrag

National Skills Registry, a NASSCOM initiative, that issues people an IT PIN (Professional Identity Number).

Originally Posted by Samurai

What is NASSCOM blacklisting, since when it became the INTERPOL of IT?

I think they should rename it to "IT experience registry for Mafia style threats" rather then National Skill registry. There was no problem if it was about skills but whole emphasis is on past employment record so a chair warmer chained to a job has better chances then a freelancer with a great contribution to some open project if this skill registry is followed.

Actually if you look at captive MNCs centers in India and product companies they do not give 2 hoots to this skills registry but most of the service companies who actually are corrupt to core make a big noise about it.

For the record I do not work for any of those companies and do not have any personal stake but my views are from an independent onlookers perspective.

This suicide is a very unfortunate incidence and may or may not have any direct linkage to the above but generally a candidate getting pink slip see no light at the end of the tunnel due to current Industry practices.

For several years as part of my job I have to deal with outsourcing partners ( no particular name for obvious reasons) , To jack up the capabilities often the managers of these companies inflate the resumes they send to clients for screening but they tout to press that it is all done by individual employees and this National Skills Registry is the solution.


The whole problem arises because 90% of chair warmers who climb up to management ladder in these companies do not know what they are looking for in an interview and fully depend on process of elimination.

In developed countries being out of job for some time does not automatically mean getting blocked for interview calls so people have no big reason to fake experience , The emphasis is more on skill rather then experience. Indian industry need to move towards selection rather then process of elimination they follow now . This will automatically bring down the number of fake resumes.

From candidates point of view getting interview call just by faking to fill a 6 months gap in resume is a big incentive to fake and all the biggies with more then 20000 employees are providing this incentive for malpractice.
Only if they start rewarding the genuine resumes situation can be controlled.

I personally feel it is highly unethical to maintain such an industry wide registry and blacklisting candidates.

PS: At no point I mean that all stake holders in these service companies are corrupt or chair warmers but many of them actually are and this news disturbed me to core and made me slightly angry.
Sorry for the out burst I am editing this post to tone down some of my outburst.

[ajmat]

Can't someone complain to NASSCOM about this misuse. In my company, if someone is to be terminated and asked to resign, it is based on fact and evidence. If there are counter evidence, it will be considered

[T_Girl]

It's not worth taking away your life for just a job. It is indeed a tough situation to deal with but I am sure it is not impossible to get another job may be after 6 months, may be a little lesser paid eventually he would have managed something for himself. It's sad!!!