Recent Shocking News in IT Industries - Must to Know the Status

[Kalyan]

Recent Shocking News in IT Industries - Must to Know the Status

Don't serve chocolates or mint to your guests. Don't use that expensive brand of mineral water. Don't use colour printers. Don't buy unnecessary software... India Inc seems to have added more don'ts to its list than ever before. Increasing cost pressure, reducing margins and the widening credit crunch have forced many companies to not only reconsider expenses but also rewrite the rulebook of cost-cutting .

A large American investment bank has stopped providing employees with luncheon coupons, usually worth a few thousand rupees, to entertain their guests. Employees of a leading Gurgaonbased BPO have been told to make their own travel arrangements beyond a certain distance from office, if working in day shifts. Other BPOs have told employees that a cab will not be provided unless there are many to be dropped. Firms are even reducing the number of times their premises are cleaned.

Executives in a large IT company working overtime, who could earlier get a cab as and when they needed, are now finding that they need at least three other peers to get a ride back home. Recently, Wipro chief Azim Premji, in an internal letter, asked employees to reduce 'discretionary' expenses. The country's thirdlargest IT firm is also learnt to have pruned its marketing spend and discouraged purchase of any software not considered essential.


It's not just IT-BPO and financial services companies that are on a cost-cutting spree. A leading Indian pharmaceutical company has already done away with toilet paper at its offices and has changed its brand of bottled water to a cheaper one. A leading Indian bank asked its entire investment banking division to stop travelling business class within or outside the country, at least for the next 12 months.

Similarly, Deutsche Bank has instructed its employees not to travel unless the trip has been approved by the respective business unit heads. Sources say the decision has been implemented across Asia. When contacted, the bank did not comment. However, an executive confirmed the move, adding that such measures are part of the travel policy and employees need to seek approval from their COOs and, at times, the Asia heads, before travelling.

Others are discouraging the use of coloured printers and round-the-clock use of air conditioners. "An infrastructure company has asked its employees to switch off the office ACs for at least two hours daily, to cut electricity bills," said an industry source. Companies are also reducing the number of newspapers and magazines they subscribe to.

"People anticipate another 6-12 months of trying times. So, things that had become a norm in the last 24 months such as business class travel for all, sometimes even for a single meeting, offsite meetings abroad or five-star luncheons at the drop of a hat are going away. These have been replaced by video conferencing, domestic offsites and concern for the environment by printing only if necessary and switching off lights when leaving one's room," headhunting firm Executive Access partner Charul Madan said.