Business Today Net Special

Time To Hire

Downturn: Bane for employees, Boon for employers.

By Venkatesha Babu

It always pays to be a contrarian as some of the IT companies are discovering. When a number of technology companies are either cutting down on their human resources or giving a red signal to recruitment altogether, a small clutch of smart companies are realising that this might be the time to hire good talent at cheap prices. In the war for hiring good talent, the small players for the first time have seen their fortunes on an upswing.

Says Srini Rajam, Chairman and CEO of a hot DSP startup 'Ittiam', "When we recently advertised for VLSI design engineers, for 20 openings we received more than 11,000 applications. In fact we had to outsource the sorting business itself. But I am satisfied that I could cherry pick the best talent available in the market today for my company."

Rajam who earlier was heading the Indian operations of Texas Instruments, says that the best thing about the current downturn in the market is that smart talent can be hired at a smart price. "Earlier people used to come into negotiate just the ESOP's and other perks. Engineers used to walk in with competing offers and ask us to match the current best, which they would use to bargain elsewhere. But the current situation has allowed the companies some leverage."

Agrees Vivek Paul, Vice chairman of Wipro "now the talent is more careful before jumping." One of the biggest beneficiaries of the current situation has been the clutch of smaller IT companies which were being squeezed in the war for talent. B.Joseph Louis, Vice President HR and Facilities of Kshema Technologies says, "earlier the bigger and more well established companies used to lure away the talent by offering them hefty packages and other perks. Smaller companies had to satisfy themselves with the left overs. Now techies are careful about the kind of company they join, the type of projects they work on, and prospects for growth rather than just look at the pay packet and sign on the dotted line." Louis feels that the current downturn has been a boon for companies like his. "Even people from established companies like Infosys and Wipro are joining us."

Comments, Vinayak Sanjay Urs, the Managing partner of Plakon (an IT Human Resource recruitment and consultancy), "earlier even software engineers with one year of experience used to demand a minimum 50 per cent salary jump before switching jobs. Most of them wanted to be placed in well-established companies, even though it meant that they would not be necessarily working at the cutting edge technologies. The current downturn has released a number of experienced people who are willing to work for the small companies as well."

Remarks K.E. Washington, HR Manager of Amsoft (a Bangalore based IT company), that it would be ideal if small companies snap up good talent when it is available. "The current downturn may not last long. Therefore it is imperative that companies hire good talent at right price. Then they will be placed well to take advantage of an upswing."

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