Core sector engineers & migrating to software jobs

Selection of career is one of the most important decisions one has to make in his life, and in most natural way it is a blend of what one can do, what one should do and what one enjoys doing. Decisions like selection of a career can’t be based on a “herd” behavior or what is “hot” in market this year or for the decade. But in current context it seems that tendency for migration towards so called white collar jobs in software sector has developed into a hedonist trend which will ultimately cause huge impairments on personal as well as socio-economic grounds. In the subsequent discussion the personal as well as wider social aspects of the migration are integrated to show the hegemonic hazards inherent in the current trend
Adam Smith, the great economist, in his classical work “Wealth of Nations” stated “The acquired and useful abilities of inhabitants of a society are like general stock, the acquisition of such talents by maintenance of acquirer during his education always costs a real expense, which is capital, fixed.” Non-IT engineering graduates have this fixed asset of knowledge with them which has consumed national as well as personal resources to groom. And after having so much specialization in their respective fields they are simply “overqualified” for software jobs. It is wastage of such a costly talent of national interest. It really makes no sense of an engg. Graduate attending the overseas calls and illustrating specification of an IT product to its clients, a high school student in U.S. does the same thing.. Many a times engineers migrated from core branches in software firms find that they are performing at a subdued level than they are capable of.
The far-reaching adverse effects on the health of economy due to unbalanced migration of talent are glossed over in the vibrant hype of Indian software and IT enabled sector (SITS) in recent past. Undoubtedly, the Indian software industry has compiled a journey like fairy tale, earning huge amounts of forex ($ 18 bn in 2005). There are discussions about how India can transform itself into a knowledge-based economy by riding the information technology (IT) bandwagon. However the vision of a knowledge-based economy will be realized only on the foundation of a robust industrial economy. To be truly beneficial, the rain of IT must fall at the right place, in the right quantity, at the right time and for the right purpose. IT is an efficiency enhancing technology. You have to have production going there before you can use IT to enhance productivity. The simulation package Procast is good for nothing unless you are producing castings. Are we putting the horse before cart here? Economic development is cumulative; the growth of IT must be counterbalanced with a simultaneous growth in manufacturing, agriculture and infrastructure. An unbalanced stress on IT will only worsen the conditions. Migration of core sector talent will mean empowerment of software sector (which constitutes only 0.25% of total workforce contributes only 3.2% to GDP & consumes massive part of the top-level talent) at a cost of other sectors resulting in greater social inequality. On the other hand growth of core sector like manufacturing along with IT will have a multiplying effect on no. of employment opportunities involving a broader range of society. One should not be surprised on L&T Chairman A P Naik damning the Technocrats. He asks “Who will build the nation?” the construction major requires at least 2000 engineers every year at its present growth rate but it is facing severe paucity for recruitment. India can’t shine with sparkling of a few complexes in Bangalore & Hyderabad, India means much more than that. Development of infrastructure, good roads, healthcare, power grids and dams are more substantial for growth of India. Currently our SITS is chiefly dependent on the demands of western industrialized economies, around 80% of revenues generates through exports, but a nation can’t export its way to prosperity. More industrialization will also lead to more domestic demand of software. The Indian government is itself more interested in development of Infrastructure and Manufacturing e.g. 1, 70,000 crore rupees are proposed to be invested in highways over next 7 years. The market for engineering services outsourced to India is expected to reach around $ 40 bn. In next 13 years. There is a lot of FDI and domestic investments already proposed in Manufacturing and the Indian manufacturing scenario looks promising in days to come, provided its HR needs are served with the top level talents. So where does the real problem lie? Is it the payment! Certainly not the case, TATA Steel pays at par with any software firm in India and the same trend is followed by almost all the industries. “There are other issues like you can’t have a blast furnace in an air-conditioned environment.” Quotes Mr. Muthuraman CMD TATA Steel. It is time to discard the notion that the manufacturing sector is inherently less appealing because it may involve some physical labor. In the more advanced economies, a skilled factory floor worker is frequently paid more than a call-centre employee. Empowered with technology, the factory worker can add value at a remarkable rate. On grounds of opportunities for growth and performance, core sector like Metallurgy offers a much bigger platform for study of pure sciences, their application and innovation than the typical low end jobs in SITS (you are most likely doing these having a non computer background). To create a mark of your own in IT is possible only if you have a true ecstasy for it rather than treating it as just another insouciant career option. Only in case of this scarce infatuation the migration can be justifiable. However your misadventure can cast you and your nation in a hard to compensate manner