Tips from US on techie search

A serious shortage of techies looms, but IT Inc can learn from the US how not to let it turn into a crisis. The big question is a trade-off:...

A serious shortage of techies looms, but IT Inc can learn from the US how not to let it turn into a crisis. The big question is a trade-off: Should wages be allowed to spiral up, or must companies now insist that employees absorb a few cuts here and there?

For Peter Cappelli, George W Taylor professor of management at the Wharton School, striking a balance between 8216;8216;business interest and people interest,8217;8217; the kind US workers are good at and the EU avoids, is key.

8216;8216;During the mid-90s downturn, more IT workers were quitting the field than new jobs were being created in the US. It was bizarre: Older IT workers were being laid off while firms complained that there were not enough people to hire and wages were spiralling up,8217;8217; says Cappelli.

There is a lesson in this for India. The 8216;best8217; American IT companies hired the 8216;best8217; graduates, but the cream of ivy league proved expensive, and was falling short too.

The result is a familiar crisis: Ex-IITians and IIM-ers make more money, while talented second- or third-rung college graduates stew over boring, routine tasks. Attrition zooms, salaries spiral, and all the while, industry complains there is a workforce shortage.

8216;8216;Sure, the best programmer is twenty times more productive than an average programmer. But is the best programmer always from the best college?8217;8217; says Cappelli. The classic Catch 22 situation could worsen. All too soon, workers realise they have 8216;8216;veto power8217;8217; and don8217;t really need to listen to management.

8216;8216;Workers don8217;t want to stagnate and fall into a rut, but if attrition zooms and so do wages, they choose not to, say, move when their company wants them to. The best way around is to be flexible,8217;8217; says Cappelli.

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India8217;s IT workforce is 1 million strong, a small percentage of the workforce, perhaps that is insulation enough? 8216;8216;Like the dot-com crash showed in the US, tech jobs, though relatively few, have a disproportionate impact on the economy,8217;8217; warns Cappelli.