Pampered till now, techies across the country are getting a taste of the tough times ahead with the global recession bleeding economies and tech spending slowing down.
Consumables now come at a cost
BANGALORE: Pampered till now, techies across the country are getting a taste of the tough times ahead with the global recession bleeding economies and tech spending slowing down.
While some companies have already kicked off belt-tightening measures others are set to follow suit. So much so that along with mandatory laptops, the backpack is now crammed with tissue paper, lunch boxes and stationery items.
If employees are to be believed, TCS is one of the companies that has effected such measures in Banglaore. “Hand napkins have disappeared from most of the loos and we have been told there will be no pens as company is cutting costs,” said a TCS staffer.
Food in the canteens, till now highly subsidised, is becoming dearer. “I pay Rs35 for my food everyday compared to Rs15 earlier,” said a professional with Cognizant Technologies. “The charges for travel to and from the office have been increased from Rs400 nearly six months back to Rs1,000 now,” he added.
A slowdown in hirings is a given. Business software multinational SAP, which runs its R&D centre in Bangalore, sent out an e-mail signed by co-CEOs Henning Kagermann and Leo Apotheker to employees after a board meeting detailed cost-cutting measures being carried out.
A freeze on new hires, cancellation of travel and cut in third-party costs, such as expenditures on consultants, external training and recruitment, are some of the measures. There is also a freeze on internal IT spend which means employees have to be satisfied with their old laptops and other gadgets given by the office.
According to a SAP spokesperson, the matter is still on the discussion board and nothing is finalised yet. However, no details were available from the company.
According to SAP employees they have been told they will have to shell out Rs800 a month from November for the daily pickup and drop. “I hope we do not have to pay for our food,” said an employee who did not want to be identified.
Many of the IT companies DNA spoke to refused to comment, stating they were awaiting the quarterly results.
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