Disclaimer : I love my job, I really do. It's just that I hate the working culture and the extent people go to get their work done.
Almost always when you say that you are working in the software industry, people assume that your life is glamorous, you are swelling with money and you are enjoying your life to the tee. Well, you have to work in the software industry to know what it really means to people who are working there. When I completed my B.E, I was naive like anyone else my age was and thought joining the corporate work force was the ultimate goal of my life. I joined a company and underwent training and in due course was assigned to a project. It was fine till then, cos I was still naive. Then began the never ending politics of work. Unethical corporate games, unrealistic expectations and deadlines are what the entire structure is made of. For all businesses Client is the God. It's the same here, except that the industries don't really have their backbone in place. They bend backwards to meet all unreasonable demands of the clients. It's interesting how we get our business. We lie. Yes on the face of the clients we lie blatantly saying our product can do this and that and what not. But in reality it probably can only do "this" or in most cases not even "this". There will be jazzy presentations and working models and when the shark takes the bite, it will be reeled in artistically. This is where the marketing professionals and their talent in selling a toothpaste as it were an immortality potion comes in handy. Now we have the client in our hands. Then we go about kicking off the project with pomp and show and there beings a never ending journey of completing it. You slog and slog and slog behind the monitor generating innumerable lines of buggy code and the pressure locks in from all sides. You are in pressure from your boss, who is in pressure from his/her boss, who is in pressure from the management who is in pressure from the Client to finish the task in hand. Tempers flare, tears stream down, deadlines gets pushed, new plan will be arrived at only to be revised again, some people break under the pressure, some walk as cool as a cucumber, someone's uncle will die close to a deadline and someone will quit. Everyone will become everyone's enemy. A lot of back biting and bitching happens and someone will get axed. You will forget your weekends and keep debugging in your sleep. Sun will set and sun will rise again tomorrow but you will never get to sleep. It is mostly a world of frustrations because when you know something is wrong and try to voice your opinion, no one will listen. Or probably will listen and take no action on it. But there are moments like a silver lining in the darkest of times, when you have good team mates to bond with and share and undergo the frustrations together with. If somehow by some luck you manage to get a weekend to yourself the never ending official calls will drive you crazy and wish you were working that being at home. All these gadgets that claims to make your life easy are actually conspiracies of the corporate merchants to make your life more crappier than it already is. With the BlackBerry making the rounds you are expected to check mails at 2 in the morning. You are forever reachable with the mobile phone invention. With the invention of laptops and palm tops, your boss will ask you rather nicely if you can complete something after the normal working hours, cos you have your laptop and that you can work from home. The "can" here is just a nicety while you are expected to work on that extra assignment. After all you are getting paid "handsomely" once in 30 days (when in the 30 days is always a secret). So that should take care of the financial crisis you are always going through.
Almost always when you say that you are working in the software industry, people assume that your life is glamorous, you are swelling with money and you are enjoying your life to the tee. Well, you have to work in the software industry to know what it really means to people who are working there. When I completed my B.E, I was naive like anyone else my age was and thought joining the corporate work force was the ultimate goal of my life. I joined a company and underwent training and in due course was assigned to a project. It was fine till then, cos I was still naive. Then began the never ending politics of work. Unethical corporate games, unrealistic expectations and deadlines are what the entire structure is made of. For all businesses Client is the God. It's the same here, except that the industries don't really have their backbone in place. They bend backwards to meet all unreasonable demands of the clients. It's interesting how we get our business. We lie. Yes on the face of the clients we lie blatantly saying our product can do this and that and what not. But in reality it probably can only do "this" or in most cases not even "this". There will be jazzy presentations and working models and when the shark takes the bite, it will be reeled in artistically. This is where the marketing professionals and their talent in selling a toothpaste as it were an immortality potion comes in handy. Now we have the client in our hands. Then we go about kicking off the project with pomp and show and there beings a never ending journey of completing it. You slog and slog and slog behind the monitor generating innumerable lines of buggy code and the pressure locks in from all sides. You are in pressure from your boss, who is in pressure from his/her boss, who is in pressure from the management who is in pressure from the Client to finish the task in hand. Tempers flare, tears stream down, deadlines gets pushed, new plan will be arrived at only to be revised again, some people break under the pressure, some walk as cool as a cucumber, someone's uncle will die close to a deadline and someone will quit. Everyone will become everyone's enemy. A lot of back biting and bitching happens and someone will get axed. You will forget your weekends and keep debugging in your sleep. Sun will set and sun will rise again tomorrow but you will never get to sleep. It is mostly a world of frustrations because when you know something is wrong and try to voice your opinion, no one will listen. Or probably will listen and take no action on it. But there are moments like a silver lining in the darkest of times, when you have good team mates to bond with and share and undergo the frustrations together with. If somehow by some luck you manage to get a weekend to yourself the never ending official calls will drive you crazy and wish you were working that being at home. All these gadgets that claims to make your life easy are actually conspiracies of the corporate merchants to make your life more crappier than it already is. With the BlackBerry making the rounds you are expected to check mails at 2 in the morning. You are forever reachable with the mobile phone invention. With the invention of laptops and palm tops, your boss will ask you rather nicely if you can complete something after the normal working hours, cos you have your laptop and that you can work from home. The "can" here is just a nicety while you are expected to work on that extra assignment. After all you are getting paid "handsomely" once in 30 days (when in the 30 days is always a secret). So that should take care of the financial crisis you are always going through.
Working in the software industry is not all that glamorous. Yes you get paid well(not in all cases though) but there is no job security. You have to live your life in a ever jittery mode not knowing when the axe will fall on your head. You will be the apple of the eye for your management as long as you survive all the hardships and deliver. But when you are no longer the slave they want you to be, you will become their enemy. As my boss used to say "No one is indispensable". You will be amazed at the speed in which a replacement is found for you. The vicious cycle continues thus. We never know when an economic crisis will hit us and when our salaries will be cut. Sometimes we never even know when we will get our salaries let alone the pending dues. It will be amazing to see how a pay cut becomes effective immediate while the pay rise and the dues will be stalled as long as possible. And as someone said, the global economic crisis is just one more way to cut salaries when the industry is not even remotely connected to the meltdown.
So we software mortal beings are not having a glamorously happy life. We are corporate slaves and are always on the verge of getting axed. We don't do weekends or vacations. We are closely related to uncle sam and his credit ratings and working onsite is just another torture device in an alien land. Our management doesn't really care about "us" so much as what we deliver. And we are always the enemies of the land.
very well written Anusha. People still don't understand what actually happens inside those glassy air-conditioned buildings.If someone does not pay the credit card bills or the housing loans in the US and the respective financial institution goes bankrupt, you will be axed for no apparent reason. The simplest logic which could be perceived as part of this theory is that everyone wants to make money at the cost of others(others' lives may be) and it becomes the root cause for all the financial crisis which starts from some no 1 company in the world and cascades down to the poorest of people on this planet.
ReplyDeleteI liked the way it was written, not that I did not like the content. Loved the level headed tone from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteKalyan : Thanks. Couldn't agree more with what you have said. I wonder when people will understand
ReplyDeleteSelva : Ithuku peru than vanja pugazhciya? :).. Thanks:)
fundamental Root cause for all these miseries is Capitalism. i wonder if there is a way out in this so called globalized world.
ReplyDeletei agree with the person that commented on US financial Crisis- the Sub-Prime Mortgage which they say really pushed the GDP down and started the Recession.
however, statistics say not even 2-3 % lost jobs in india, the impact wasn't felt heavily by the industry here, but cut backs were heavy, which goes to all points Anusha says. security, clouded outlook,etc.
Companies going backrupt, are not new, they have in the past and they will in the future. going back again to some of the points Anusha talks about,selling the tooth paste, is absolute truth. all the big guys that went down, had amazing Anaytic capability, they clearly are early adopters of technology, they know pulse by pulse how their data is. no one can deny, they went down cause of unethical practices, pushing too much of liquidity into the market, inflating the prices , violating the credit ratings and providing loans to people that cannot repay. all the software applications would have Told them NO. it is always the quality leadership/Ethics that safe your face at the end of the day. IT developers/Consultant can do nothing more than working hard and getting the software right. its the decision makers and their politcal players who decide whats your fate. so when you Vote next time, when you join a company next time look for these. :D..i am slightly off the tangent here. but i thought i will say what i thought. overall, fantastic post.
Sriram