Recruit absorption delays as IT, ITES hit slump

Lakshmy Ramanathan / TNN / Aug 14, 2008, 07:01 IST

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Students and families grow anxious over recruitment, question policy adopted by IT And ITES Cos ...

Recruit absorption delays as IT, ITES hit slump

CHENNAI: It's that time of the year when engineering and science graduates get called by IT and ITES companies to train in various capacities. But instead of the usual air of excitement that accompanies first jobs and recruitments into MNCs, newly-passed out students seem to be overcome by waves of anxiety.
Twenty-two-year-old Meera Srinivasan who passed out of college in mid-2007 sat at home for eight long months before she heard from a leading Bangalore-based IT company.After being given the offer letter in 2006, the computer science engineer waited till March this year to join the company as a trainee.
Though IT companies have never allotted 'joining dates' during recruitment time, the delay between the time of recruitment, a candidate's graduation and the actual absorption into the company has just got longer. "Global economic uncertainty and other cyclical industry pressures have forced some clients to reassess their budgets, reprioritize spending and elongate decision cycle that has begun to impact the IT industry," says T Sridhar, chief people officer, Cognizant.
The sub-prime crisis-led recession may give IT and ITES companies a reason to delay in absorbing recruited candidates but then, Indian companies have never committed joining dates or the approximate time of absorption to selected candidates. The practice is one that has left both parents and students baffled.

"Companies are prompt in issuing offer letters. In fact after the recruitment tests, they just hand out print-outs of it. A common email id is allotted for further communication on date of joining but I don't remember the company ever sending any information on this," says S Dhanalakshmi who has been a part of the IT industry for a year now.
Alternately, students are given a common phone number to keep channels of communication open. "My batch of friends and I who got recruited late in 2006 were given a toll-free number. But every time, I called them, the person on the other end said, 'We'll get back to you shortly, sir. Presently, you don't feature on our August-September trainee batch' ," says Rajeev P who passed out in 2007 from a Kelambakkam-based engineering college.

It's this very system of absorbing trainees in batches that students and parents are questioning . Talent acquisition and recruiting officers however insist that that they do have systems in place. While companies such as Wipro say that their hiring programs are linked to business requirements and the logistics of training and seating employees, it's different at Satyam Computer Services where there are ratings and classifications (which is a combination of reports from analyst, independent auditors, leading journals etc) based on which the company prioritizes institutions.
"This is then combined by our internal rating of institutions and finally, the scores of the student in tests and interviews are taken into consideration. A combination of the above decides the basis of calling in the hired recruits," says Rajan Kanagasabai, head, HR Sourcing, Satyam.
Dhanalakshmi who works with a rival IT company in the city rebuffs the existence of any such policy across the industry. "My own batchmate who got lesser marks joined the company before me. While she was called on July 1, I was called 26 days later!" she says.
A well-placed source from the industry also adds that it would be impossible to recruit students on the basis of marks, for the simple reason that students are drawn from various disciplines. On condition of anonymity, he also stated that often, students get chosen just on the basis of institution and discipline that they come from. Incidentally, circuit disciplines such as computer science , electronics and instrumentation are given preferences.
But calling in a recruit earlier or later to another has far reaching implications. Students such as Shiv K are one among hundreds who feel they will not stand a chance in next year's round of MBA entrance exams and interviews as they don't possess the required work experience.
"No top B-school takes you seriously unless you have a year's experience. And just because I was called late, for no fault of mine, I will not be completing 12 months of work experience by next year," says Shiv.
The problems don't end here. Several companies such as Cognizant initiate visa procedures for their employees upon their completion of a year so that they can be sent to the US for projects. "But it so happens that just because I haven't completed a year as on a particular date, I don't get a L1 visa and am denied an opportunity to work on overseas project that is sure to have given me a wider range of exposure. This is why, even a difference of two days can have a huge effect," says Dhanalakshmi.
It's obvious that students are worried. It's the first time in over five years that they are seeing a significant dip in head count since the 2001 slowdown. But industry pall-bearers are asking to stay calm. "IT Industry by and large is transforming itself into a backbone of the global economy, and small glitches like a slowdown are temporary phases which should sort itself out in a very short span. There is nothing to worry," says Satyam's Kanagasabai.
Nasscom predicts a 6% dip in growth for the IT industry in the next one year
Satyam may see a 15-20 % dip in recruitment. While it hired 16,600 employees in 2007-08 , it will hire between 12,000-15 ,000 this year
Infosys shows a 33.4% dip in trainees hired. It recruited 5,070 trainees last year but only 3,372 till June 2008
Hexaware recorded a 4.5% dip in its head count. While it had 6,600 fresh recruits last year, the figure reduced to 6,300 this year

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