Exodus

After watching Sholay movie in the afternoon last Sunday, we sat down chitchatting. Didi was telling about a young girl in the neighbourhood. The girl, in her early twenties, started her career in IT sector couple of years ago and on her dad's birthday, this summer, she gifted him a brand new Indigo diesel car. She downpaid fifty percent and for the rest she took a loan, which she is required to pay back in EMIs. Besides, she is considering purchase of a two bed room flat in the vicinity, where prices of two bed flats are upwards 25 lakhs.
Owning a house, buying a car used to be on the middle class working people's 'wishlist' for fulfillment towards the fag end of their working career. The girls story might appear amazing if one is not well connected with what is happening on the job market front, especially in IT and IT enabled sectors like BPO, KPO etc, where avenues are opened for skilled people with huge pay packages.
Earning in five figures is no longer an attractive proposition. To be a decent figure, it needs to be either touching six figure or in multiples. Few days back my niece called up to say, "Uncle, my hubby got a hike in salary'. Without pause she continues, 'why don't you ask how much'. I said 'how much'. 'He got a hike of Rs.25,000'. She did not stop there. She continued "Initially, they proposed a hike of 40%, but later they gave only 30% and promised to increase it further by 30% from the next financial year'.

Lo! This is reported to be beginning. Around IT islands, be it Bangaluru, Chennai, Cyberabad (Hyderabad), Delhi's suburbs Gurgaon, Noida, new millionaires are popping up on round the clock basis. Fat pay packages are slowly becoming norm in some of the private companies.
Traditional professions like medicine, teaching, accountancy, public services etc are looking unremunerative vis-a-vis jobs in IT and some of the private sector jobs.
The impact of IT sector and their pals on traditional sectors is telling. A relative of mine resigned her so called high paid job in a PSU Bank to join a leading IT company at four times pay. My friend DN Chowdhury, after putting in 12 years in IRS , called it a day recently and proceeded to pursue post graduate course in law from an Ivy League University. Thereafter, he will either open up his own outfit or join a corporate law firm.

It is reported that a senior IAS officer of UT cadre has recently put in his papers to join real estate major, DLF. You know how much is the annual pay in the company: Rs.1.75 crores. He will earn in 15 days what he had been drawing in a full year from the government.

TRAI has turned out to be a good poaching ground for private telecom players. By paying three to six times the compensation that staff who work with the telecom regulator earn, they are drawing best of talent from it.
At our desi aviation giant Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, 370 topline engineers have quit this year alone, over 1000 in the last three years. Private players are offering huge salaries. An engineer getting Rs.5 lakhs a year lured away by a Rs.12 lakh package.

The momentum is picking up, though the pace is yet to reach alarming proportions. If the traditional sectors wont wake up to the market realities, sun rise sector will draw away the talented from their areas. Izzat and satisfaction can hold on for some time, but majority of the talent will be lured towards the honeybee eventually.

During his second term President elections, Bill Clinton's main slogan was "It's economy, stupid!'. It is believed that he won elections on the strength of his performance in the area of economy and by highlighting it. Similarly, if traditional fields want to hold the brightest and capture the brilliant, they have to pull up their socks and act fast.
Seeking 'level playing field' would not yield dividends. Initiatives like job enrichment, job enlargement coupled with better HR practices may not be of much help, unless pay package are suitably structured in line with the market-driven economic paradigm.