BENEFITS, LONGEVITY AND LIFE AFTER IT JOB Author: Kasturi Das C P (published in www.prathidhwani.org)
shortlisted for Srishti 2014 Technopark Trivandrum (India) competition)
When the world industrial scenario graduated from manufacturing to services sector, little did we realize that IT and ITeS would take over our lives by storm in the years to come. Yes, this was it. Information Technology has come to stay, changing the very basic tenets of this world; touching upon each and every aspect of our existence from beginning to end. People who had predicted that IT would benefit only a select few upper class of the population and would not percolate to the grassroot level have been proved wrong. Even the laymen like a construction worker seen speaking confidently into a mobile phone is an example of the drastic change in the quality of life that Information Technology has brought about!
Having seen through the change, from pre-IT age to a full-fledged IT world, the experience has been that of fascination and awe! The period was the welcoming of computers during the 80’s into the small state of Kerala. Those were the days when the option in the public school I studied being between Computers or Economics; only a minority was left with loyalty towards Economics, and the rest took the plunge into IT. The time was such that Kerala had a government which was unsuccessful in laying before the public the true benefits of IT. The consequences were like students and political parties taking to streets against the implementation of IT in schools, colleges and offices in Kerala; the false belief was the ill-effects it would have on employment opportunities here! The fear among the public was that computers would replace their jobs with dire implications like loss of jobs of ordinary office goers; but there was light behind the dark clouds that seemed to appear. The government stood by IT; initiated projects to educate common people on the advantages of IT and the advancement it would bring to the society at large. Campaigns were organised; street plays, dramas, movies on the positive effects of IT. Social activists plunged into action; to the slums, to every middle class home, involved students in their activities; finally it dawned upon the public that IT would bring a sunrise into their dark lives.
No sooner Information Technology stormed into our lives. Governance, poverty alleviation, financial sector reforms, revamping of the education and social sectors through the application of Information and Communication Technologies have become the pet topics of every progress loving individual in this country. The impact of the changing world is we cannot restrict ourselves to our country; we have become world citizens! A product of the ongoing digitalized global village. Our leaders too have started striving for seeing a debit card in every Indian’s pocket; a laptop in every home of our villages; a mobile phone in every ‘Aam Aadmi’s palm. For realising these dreams, we require to skill India; internet-based education should be mandatory in every school. We are well aware that it will be like swimming against the tide if we brand the internet and social media as a bane for our children; so why not take advantage of it and make it our mission to equip our children with the positive aspects of this medium; which would make them invincible, to any force!
E-governance is a harbinger of good governance; with this aim in view each unit of governance, from panchayats to municipalities, to city corporations has to make modifications and revamp the way they work, handle issues of the public with an advanced perspective or outlook; this requires IT penetration to the deepest levels of the government structures. Implementing IT in government being a costly affair, it requires the PPP in place; the possibility of Public Private Partnership. To bring about various projects of the government operational, innovative communication systems and technologies should be initialised. This would be the origin point of every development plan, and no matter what the difficulties on the road, the progress would happen in exponential proportions. For setting in motion the initiatives and make it a colossal success, the presence of skilled technocrats and facilitating bureaucrats in the team are a must.
The Indian government being at any level are allocating resources for the progress of the IT sector; Special Economic Zones are being created giving liberal tax incentives to the IT industry in every state of India. Incubator companies are being given special grants to set up IT business. It is an awakening; a realisation that modernisation is impossible without proper technologies in place. The result is evident in every sphere of social and economic activity. The progress has become unstoppable! IT companies developing applications for the automation of business processes for various industries, have resultant impact in the governance structure of this country too. Be it the administrative processes in the government institutions, the smooth and quick working of the hospitals, the reservation and booking in the tour and travel sector or the automated processes in the financial sector, Information Technology has left no stones unturned. Today we cannot think of a life without ATMs or Notepads. We hold on to a gadget even during our sleep! Thus Information Technology is seen percolating into every vein of India, fast and furious but with a mission; a mission to see us in the forefront of world developments, moulding world-class citizens out of us. Yes India! We are making it happen!
The impact is obviously visible to the whole world on this day of the 21st century. IT has become irreplaceable; a part and parcel of our daily life. Development is such that the average number of mobile phones and laptops in a layman’s possession even in a small state like Kerala is at least two. From being considered as a luxury till last decade, the touchscreen in-built mobiles have become a necessity in every Indian’s life; for paying water and electricity bills, for buying tickets for movies, for communicating with our colleagues during out-of-office hours and even for making presentations at office. Today every major online applications has a corresponding App to operate through the mobile phones. It makes us scream in joy – ‘Power in our hands!’ Definitely just a click on an App is enough to alarm the Police or the Fireforce or the Ambulance today. Do we have to go to the restaurants when we have hunger pangs on a rainy day? Tap on a button on the App, the pizza is at your doorstep in ten minutes.
The internet, a product of this revolution has cast an irrevocable spell on every child, every teenager and every adult, every section of the society. From a techie in Silicon Valley to a farmer in the remote part of India has benefitted from the internet revolution. Information transfer through the communication technologies has positively transformed the way a businessman conducts his business, the way a farmer applies farming techniques, the way a scientist invents for making this world a better place.
A student’s foray into IT as a field, in getting educated, has opened up innumerable opportunities for him in this industry. To make the dreams of young Indians a reality, higher education itself has become an industry altogether, providing him international arenas to display his talents and horn up his skills, shaping his career to the standard of his counterparts in the advanced nations.
Having touched upon the vast impact the onset of IT has on Indian public; let me come to the topic of the core benefits a techie can expect from an IT job. Money being the basic motivational force for every human being to work, that itself is the main advantage of a software job. An IT job brings with it high remuneration and attractive perks to the individual; a high standard of living and a better quality of life compared to his peers in other industries. High esteem and luxury in life is what IT promises! Another benefit is the cordial and comfortable work environment with all workflows well-placed to make his time in office easy-going. Companies are always on the run aiming to make retention of their workforce one of the main objectives for its survival in the industry. The supply of educated and skilled Indians being less, the companies are prepared to offer the limited few, steep hikes and incentives to retain them. Coming to the other benefits that an IT job offers; onsite opportunity is something that every Indian dreams of. Once the techie gains onsite experience, he becomes competent enough to face the world as such. The Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and others like him are classic examples of how Indians achieve the best of the IT world once they are exposed.
Another positive aspect of an IT job is the possibility to work from home and the flexibility in time of work, if the situation so demands. Telecommuting and Flexitime have thus become common terms that applies to a techie’s life. Companies modify their policies to make the techie ‘happy’; they mould their vision and mission to make it employee-friendly; women friendly. Today’s techie tries to juggle between work and life to find the correct balance. He does not want to lose out on any aspect of life that he holds close to his heart and his employer leaves no stones unturned to make his dream a reality.
Having described the rosy aspects of an IT job, there comes the question of how long can one expect to hold on to an IT job. Well, the longevity part of a career in IT is limited to the extent of the company’s fancy. Most of the companies in this industry prefer the young and the innovative. Being aware of all these factors, the wise techie develops his other talents along with the job he holds. When the company says its time for him to leave, he would land comfortably something new; be it accepting a non-IT job or starting his own company or be it switching to make his hobby a means of livelihood.
Life after an IT job cannot be termed as retirement, since the techie being still young, pursue other career streams; also this gives him an opportunity to apply whatever he had learned in IT. In reality the majority of the cases are that of him starting new initiatives of his own and often resulting in achieving success in the ventures. All through his life as an IT person he had been minting money and now after retirement it’s time for him to exhibit his capability as an individual. There are innumerable cases where a techie comes back to his home country and engage himself in social causes with the intention of giving back to the society what he has gained.
On taking an overview of a techie’s life, it may mesmerize us and overwhelm us but we fail to see the amount of stress and tensions he may have undergone in order to barter for a life of his liking. To say in few words, it’s not the Intelligent Quotient that has made him successful but rather the Emotional Quotient. So when we raise our younger generation it is good to keep in mind these factors before we instil in them the desire to dream big. ‘Dream big and find the right balance’ – these should be the key words to achieve big in life.