Recession forces tech professionals to teach
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 23 March 2009, 15:50 IST   |    13 Comments
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Recession forces tech professionals to teach
Bangalore: As the recession has impacted the fortunes of Indian IT companies, engineering colleges are now getting inundated with applications from IT workers wishing to take up teaching profession, which is thought to be a safe bet as the education sector is considered recession-proof. Bangalore Institute of Technology (BIT) has seen almost a ten-fold increase in applications for faculty positions, reports Business Line. "If it was one or two applications earlier, this year we have received about 10-20 for computer science, information science, and electronics and communication," said M.U. Ashwath, Placement and Training Officer at BIT. "We used to advertise to fill up the vacant positions, but there is no need to do that now," Ashwath said, adding that apart from receiving applications from HR and Finance professionals for its Management Studies department, BIT has even received two applications from doctorate degree holders, which was rare earlier. Bangalore-based R.V. College of Engineering has interviewed some candidates and some have already joined as faculty. "I think many people have planned this as a stop-gap career option," said K.N. Subramany, Director of the college. "Though we are seeing substantial interest from technology professionals to take up teaching, it is too early to call it a trend," said K. Rajanikanth, Principal, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT). "If the economic revival does not happen early, we may see more interest," Rajanikanth said, adding that about four professionals have approached the college in search of teaching slots. Though practical experience of such technology professionals would augur well for the academia, MSRIT has always preferred faculty with a mix of research and academic background, Rajanikanth said.

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