Laid-off techie unions in Bangalore could rock IT industry

Is it wrong to have a union of employees in the tech sector to save their professional interests and to fight for their job security? It is an irony that a sector that employs more than three million people in India today, does not have a proper forum where tech professionals can articulate their views or air their grievances!

With sacked IT (Information Technology) professionals are shedding their inhibitions and spilling on to the streets to condemn the layoffs, this kind of “unionisation”, (backed by the trade unions) in the tech sector, has petrified the management of IT companies. The issue has become one of the hottest topic of debate in boardrooms in the tech capital of the country. While top Indian and MNC technology firms claimed that only “non-performers” and those unwilling to “change their attitude towards work” were being asked to quit, it is a fact that a higher number of technology professionals lost their jobs in 2014 when compared to 2013. This was a result of contraction of business coupled with weak long-term orders from global clients, particularly in the IT Enabled Service (ITES) sector.

According to a conservative estimate, more than 25,000 IT professionals have lost their jobs in India in the last 12 months and the tech firms that have sacked them, were considered as safe bets from a job security perspective. It may be too early to speculate that the glory days of the IT and ITES sector are over, but the rise and fall of the tech firms and the single digit growth of quarterly profits are indeed an indication of what lies ahead.

Tech professionals with more than 15 years of experience are now worried about job security considering the lay-offs. Some of them have even come to the conclusion that non-IT sectors with sub-par wages offer better job security in the long-term. With so many factors working against the stability of jobs in the IT sector, is a union of employees to echo their voices necessary? Several tech professionals feel it could be a last resort if the present trend of sacking experienced professionals and replacing them with relatively less experienced people for a lesser pay package, continues.

Though a union for employees in tech companies is so far unheard of, such forums are also not entertained by firms. As a result, this “unionisation” could spell trouble for the BPO sector where the wages are less compared to the mainstream IT industry. Unlike in the manufacturing sector, where labour unions are strong and often resort to strikes to fulfil their demands, in the IT sector, forming unions is considered sacrilege. Even if there is an attempt by any employee to form a union, he/she is "blacklisted". If he/she is sacked, finding another job becomes next to impossible.

Unlike the manufacturing sector where labourers are appointed directly, recruitment agencies play a big role in the tech sector. Any employee, found working against the interests of a firm (for instance trying to form a union or forum), is disqualified at the first level screening by the recruitment agencies or another tech firm if he/she applies for a job. It’s because the sacked employee’s name and date of birth figures among the “potential troublemakers database”.

So, does it mean there is no room for dissent in the tech sector? A classic example has been that of a senior manager (of a US-based firm), who pointed out inadequate fire safety measures in his office. After being fired, finding a job has been a challenge. So, to whom will such people air their grievances? Will a forum of IT employees help find another job? That may not be a possibility. But it is likely that the tech sector will not remain insulated from “unionisation” in the coming years.