How to be more secure from layoffs in the Indian IT Services Industry?
Recently, Cognizant announced that they will be laying off a lot of employees around the world.
Here are some insights from that case:
- The total number of employees that will be affected is around 12,000.
- 5000-7000 Employees will be clearly laid-off.
- Rest 5000 will be re-skilled because Cognizant is exiting the Social Media content moderation business unit.
- Those identified for lay-offs are in the mid-to-senior category and more than half of these will be in India.
- Senior Executives won’t be getting increments in this financial year.
The main reason for this is cost reduction. According to every service-based company, every employee should be billed. It means that they should bring in revenue for the company they are working for, from the clients that the companies have.
But we can’t blame the corporates for everything. They are businesses and they are focused on having a maximum amount of profit.
The most important issue is that the higher the designation, the higher the rigidness of employees to learn something new. IT is something that is very dynamic. You can’t expect to learn something and stick to that throughout your entire career. You are required to learn something new and upskill regularly.
Cognizant has also announced that it is planning to hire around 23,000 employees (gross) from India’s major technical institutions during the calendar year 2020. It clearly means that young graduates are cheaper resources and more flexible than their senior counterparts.
So, what’s the solution?
As we know, Job Security is a myth. There are only a few options available if you wish your career to be secure. You can either build assets and income-generating businesses. Or you can continue working in the industry and be fluid throughout your career.
If you won’t be fluid, you will become obsolete and ultimately laid-off. These layoffs are, basically, a lesson for all the IT employees to be fluid in their careers and keep learning something.
