Relocation and its compulsory
The Indian IT service industry has always been about margins. Long long ago, in one of my past organization the senior leaders were pondering over the question "How to further increase the margins?".
Probably the discussion might have gone this way:
Senior a** no. 1 - Lets move all employees from Mumbai office to Pune or Bangalore where the rentals are less compared to Mumbai. We will save a few pennies.
Senior a** no. 2 - Hey if all employees move out, we will have to leave too.
Senior a** no. 1 - Ok in that case 50 % of mid-level and junior employees need to move.
All senior a*** - Wow, that's brilliant !!!
HR promptly mailed the senior managers to identify as many people as possible and force them to relocate. The word spread like wildfire throughout my organization. People wondered, the maximum cost in IT is the employee cost, saving on a few pennies on rental by forcing people to relocate, how's that going to help?
The mood was sombre. Ali baba worried about his family in Mumbai, what about the fees which he just paid for his daughter's school. Gautam had signed a two year bond, now if he disagreed and resigned he would have to pay a significant amount of money as penalty to the organization. Narasimha was just engaged, what was he going to tell his fiancée. The concern on everyone's mind was that we need to hunt for a new job as soon as possible.
One of the senior managers Mr. Ramesh forced most of his team to relocate. Gautam resigned and the organization forced him to pay the penalty mentioned in the bond, in spite of the fact that he would not have resigned if he was allowed to work from Mumbai. Most of the members took a hit. Some moved alone leaving their families behind in Mumbai. Some moved with a plan to travel every weekend back home. Those who could find an alternate job in 2 months, managed to negotiate with the organization about not moving out of Mumbai.
I was tensed too. Although the day I heard the news I updated my resume, uploaded it on job sites and had started preparing for the worst. The good part was that I was a technically strong person. I also had complete functional understanding about the project. I felt pretty confident that I would be able to find an alternate job within a month or two.
One day, my manager came to my desk. Let's call him Mr. Kaga for now.
Mr. Kaga - 'I need to have a word with you',
Me - 'Sure'
Mr. Kaga - 'You will need to move to Pune immediately and it is compulsory'
Me - 'I request you to send me this over an official mail'.
Mr. Kaga - 'Sure, I will send the mail as soon as I get to my desk'.
Me - 'Sure, as soon as I receive the mail, I will reply with my resignation'
Mr. Kaga - 'Hmmm'.
Mr. Kaga left for his desk. The mail never came. I had managed to ward off the threat of relocation.
After many years I wonder what did I learn from this?
I now realize, that the KEY is to stay technical, the KEY is to keep learning, the KEY is to stay relevant. Knowledge is power. Do not let yourself turn into a dumb-a** senior leader, who has to play dirty tricks to stay relevant. Only then your mind will have no fear and you can hold your head high.
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