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Pune IT Cos Ink Peace Pact To End Talent War, Firms Agreed To Work Collectively To Reduce AttritionBy ugesh sarkar, Section Computer Gupshup  Twenty-eight residents of Hinjewadi, including top names like Infosys, TCS, Cognizant and Wipro, that once ruthlessly poached talent from each other, have now agreed to work collectively to reduce attrition. At their first meeting hosted at the Infosys campus in Hinjewadi last month, CXO-level representatives from all 28 companies keenly explored a no-poaching agreement, but concluded it was unviable. However, they managed to seal a pact under which they will hire from rivals only after candidates have fully served out notice periods. Earlier, it was common practice for the hiring companies to pay salary in lieu of the notice period. This worked well for the hirer, but caused problems for the previous employer who would not have enough time to find replacements. "We met last month and worked out a broad agenda," confirmed Mritunjay Singh, the Pune head for Infosys and president of the Hinjewadi Industries Association (HIA). Infosys is Hinjewadi's largest employer with 42,000 on its rolls. The companies have also agreed that new employees cannot join without a relieving letter from the previous employer. Earlier, it was common for IT pros to desert jobs without any notice. All of this will be spelt out in a `code of ethics' that will be honoured by the HR departments of all these companies and by their employees. Source: Economic Times By Omkar Sapre Pune IT Cos Ink Peace Pact To End Talent War, Firms Agreed To Work Collectively To Reduce Attrition Click On "Full Story" For More...
These 28 companies account for 100,000 of the 250,000 IT professionals employed in Pune. They contributed about Rs 19,000 crore of the Rs 48,000 crore worth of software exported from Pune last year, though exact figures are not available.
Loss of staff is loss of knowledge Hinjewadi may account for only 6-8% of the sector's total revenues, but if this peace experiment succeeds, it might find more takers across other IT hubs in the country. The industry, which saw a net addition of just 20,000 people last year, is likely to add about 90,000 to the base of 2.3 million employees, according to industry body Nasscom. Already, Infosys has reported an attrition of 16% during the last quarter, the highest in 12 months. Nearly 8,000 employees exited during the quarter, a clear sign of the simmering war for talent. IT companies in India could be losing close to $2 billion annually to attrition, including loss of productivity and expenditure to find replacements, estimates Ganesh Natarajan, vice-chairman and managing director, Zensar Technologies, and head of CII's IT & ITES committee. "There is a price pressure from the customers and also from the competition. If we do not arrest this attrition now, our profitability will decrease," said an official from another company, who did not want to be named as his company was in the silent period before announcing results. "Loss of an employee is loss of knowledge. Finding a replacement and getting him to be productive takes 2-6 months, which makes it a loss of productivity too," Mr Singh added. Perhaps the Pune experiment may present the industry with a solution. The HIA took the lead in hammering out this peace agreement. "We have formed a core group and separate work groups are also being formed. We have decided that all groups will meet once a month," Mr Singh added. "Through HIA, we (the 28 companies) have collaborated successfully on initiatives in security, transport and infrastructure. So why not collaborate even though we are competitors, and collectively become better?" says Mr Singh. When he connected with the other companies, he found they too were keen. The Hinjewadi peace pact will have a bearing not just on lateral hires, but also on campus recruits. Existing talent in Pune has been absorbed fully. More talent has to come only from campuses. "But those that are fresh out of college have high expectations about salaries, with no seriousness about jobs. Such expectations are being set by the colleges and placement officers, who are not in sync with the developments in the industry," said Unmesh Bathija, vice-president of HIA. The 28 companies have formed a work group which will craft a unified communication module on the state of the industry and its talent needs. This will be used by the HR teams of all 28 companies in their interactions at campuses.
In some ways, these companies are only trying to fix a problem they had created. Hardpressed for talent, the IT industry resorted to rampant poaching during the heydays of 2007-08. This time around, as the industry looks to get back to growth, they are trying not to make the same mistake again.
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