I've been blogging quite a bit about India in the past few weeks, noticing in particular how they're slowly but surely adopting not just the best, but also the worst aspects of Western culture. Now, as this recent article in the Economic Times reports, the Indian workforce is getting younger and younger – to the point where companies are going to the countryside to round up Indian youth by training them and employing them.
OF course, this sounds like a great thing - and it is - for now.
The high-tech market in India is hardly a new marketplace for IT talent. As the years go by, and companies become richer and more bloated (along with the fat cats running them), the realities of keeping these companies afloat will change.
What happens when a company hits the point where it realizes that it needs to stay lean and trim to continue making profits? Where do these jobs go? What happens before then and the "old timers" are put out to pasture for younger, more flexible employees who adapt better to the long and weird hours.
While these aren't necessarily concerns now, they are valid issues that today's workforce in India (especially in technology) should bear in mind when planning their careers and long-term plans.
Oh yes, there is definitely a lack of understanding in the youngsters about the different roles in the ladder as they move up in their careers. However, I am not sure if the current breed of youngsters in India entering the technology job market are that worried about career paths. They seem to live mostly in the present, earning and spending their quick monies.
On the issue of how the tech businesses wanting to stay trim and lean and continue to increase the topline/ bottomline: most of the technologists in india are employed in services businesses where scalability of businesses is equated to number of hands one can provide, rather determined by it. There have been very few instances of 'earn through reuse' innovations there, akin to selling product licenses. The industry seems to be too busy and shortsighted with quarterly earnings and share prices to have the time and inclination to look at alternative models.