Survey finds Indian techies restless, ambitious

Friday, 06 April 2007, 17:30 IST
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Bangalore: Riding on a tech boom, Indian techies have come of age and are raring to go. Cashing in on the growing demand-supply gap in the IT industry, the smart and ambitious are on a job-hopping spree, says an online survey. The salary survey, conducted jointly by TNS India and CyberMedia Dice in the IT industry, has revealed how software firms are grappling with the challenge of retaining employees by going the extra mile to meet their aspirations and ambitions. "The profile of Indian IT professionals indicate they are restless, very ambitious for a fast track career growth. The challenge for the industry is to meet their ambitions and aspirations," CyberMedia Chairperson and Managing Director Pradeep Gupta said here at a preview of the survey findings on Thursday. Though IT firms have been doling out 15-20 percent annual salary hikes to retain their employees, job content, work culture and growth opportunities have gained precedence over compensation benefits in deciding whether to remain in the present job or look out for another/better one. As a result, around 47 percent of techies have been found to be with their current employer for less than a year despite 70 percent of them being promoted in the last 12 months and 42 percent in the last six months. The findings were based on a comprehensive response from 1,886 geeks who were among the 350,000 members enrolled on CyberMediaDice.com, a dedicated tech job site, hosted by CyberMedia group. The respondents were drawn from 50 cities, with Bangalore accounting for 453, followed by Hyderabad with 252, Chennai 213, Mumbai 181 and Delhi 166. TNS India is the local arm of the world's largest custom research agency. "Of the 1.1 million IT professionals across the country, around 63 percent of them in the age group of 23-31 years have less than five years of work experience in software related services and solutions. About 75 percent of them have moved to a new job in less than two years, indicating that the industry has the most mobile work force in the country," TNS India head Abraham Karimpanal said. The survey also found majority of the techies are not only a committed lot, but also have job satisfaction, with a quarter of them having over 70 TRI M index as against the all-India mean of 62 for employees in other sectors. The index is a measure of strength in the employee-employer relationship. "About 60 percent of the respondents have posted resumes on job portals though they are happy and committed. Yet, they are in search of the best deal in the town with their skill sets and experience. Growth prospects have emerged as the most important determinant of employee motivation and commitment, overriding even salary quotient," CyberMedia Dice CEO E. Abraham Mathew noted. Interestingly, the survey revealed salaries in southern and western regions were higher than in the northern and eastern regions. Salaries in Gurgaon (Haryana), average above 600,000 compared with those offered in Bangalore and are the highest in the country. The average cost-to-company (CTC) for those working in Chennai and Hyderabad is about 450,000, while it is 509,000 in Mumbai and 489,000 in Delhi. Professionals at the junior to middle level with 500,000 annual salary are more committed than those at the middle or senior level with 1.2 million salary. The average annual salary of 491,000 offered in the west is the highest, followed by 479,000 per annum in the south. Compensation in north and east range from 414,000 to 458,000. "Postgraduates in technical subjects are paid 17 percent more than MBAs employed in the industry. Multinational firms are able to command higher level of commitment as against those working in Indian or joint venture firms," Mathew said. In fact, about 90 percent of the respondents said multinational software firms, be they Indian or foreign, were their ideal employer. On the flip side, employers were rated below average in providing overall work culture, organisational climate, job content and transparent performance management, while the quality of work place was considered average. "Ironically, most of the techies demonstrate the highest commitment to their organisation in the first year of hiring and drop it considerably over the years," Gupta added.
Source: IANS