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Software in India - The
Manpower Myth
Pankaj Jalote
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur - 208016
Software has been targeted as a growth sector in India. Besides the
industry's own potential for exports, software also plays the crucial role
role in information technology (IT), use of which is fast becoming the key
for competitiveness in any industry. Hence, for the growth of IT industry as
well as the other industries, a rapid growth of software industry, both in
terms of size and quality is absolutely essential.
Though the software industry has been growing very rapidly, with many
multinationals coming in India, the industry has already hit a road block in
its path to glory. And that road block is the acute shortage of manpower.
The Myth of Abundant Manpower
Almost all major IT players in the world have set up subsidiaries or
collaborations in India. The major attraction was an "abundance of
technically qualified and cheap software manpower". This may have been the
case before the start of the growth phase, but now there is, in fact, an
acute shortage of qualified and trained manpower. This is getting reflected
in the spiraling salaries (one of the highest average starting salary
today), and more importantly, a frequent job-hopping culture. An average
software person stays for a year or two in a company before hopping on to
the next. Given the fact that a large software project may last many months,
this type of loss has strong adverse effects on software quality and
productivity of the software organization as a whole. Software being very
manpower intensive, loss of a person represents loss of knowledge, often
critical, about the projects the person may be working on, and about the
general processes of software development. In addition, with the loss of a
person, all the investment in training is also lost.
According to a report by an IIM Ahemdabad faculty, approximately 5000 people
are needed every year to meet the growth targets of the software industry.
However, the total production from education and training institutions is
only about a third of this. Undoubtedly, the most acute problem facing the
software industry today is the shortage of its most crucial resource -
trained manpower.
The numbers of demand and supply do not tell the complete story regarding
the manpower shortage. A report done by Tata Consulting Services (TCS), the
largest software house
Current Industry Approach
So what do software companies do that want people with a good background in
areas like databases, software engineering, object oriented technology,
operating systems, etc. Two approaches are being followed by companies that
are seriously engaged in the business of software development. The first is
to hire the few available people who have the necessary skills at exorbitant
salaries. This is the approach taken by most multinationals who have started
operations in India. The second approach is to have in-house induction
training programs, that will bring up the skills of the available manpower
to a minimally acceptable level.
Today, a large organization which wants to recruit people in large numbers
actually has no other option but to have in-house training facilities and
extensive training programs. These training programs can be quite expensive.
In a recent workshop on in-house training held at IIT Madras, it was
estimated that a 2-3 month induction training program cost around Rs 50,000
per trainee. In addition, these training programs need to use the
experienced manpower for training, which is in short supply and which can be
used much more profitably in more "productive" activities like projects and
R&D. Perhaps the biggest limitation of in-house training programs is that
they cannot provide high quality education, as the qualified faculty is for
Computer Science is even more scarce, and software organizations usually do
not have such qualified training staff.
Investment Needed
There are two related problems of manpower shortage - one is the low volume,
and the other is the low quality coming out from some places. One of the
important factors common for both of these is lack of sufficient resources.
One of the reasons for poor quality training imparted at many universities
or engineering colleges is institutions is lack of equipment, labs, and
materials for faculty upgradation. Many places are so poor in terms of
resources that they have nothing but a few PCs to run many programs. And, of
course, there is no support for faculty to buy books, subscribe to journals,
or attend conferences - all absolutely essential for avoiding technical
obsolescence in this fast changing field.
Enhancing the quality of education at these institutions will require about
Rs 1-2 lakhs per 4 or 5 student every 4-5 years for purchase of equipment
(life of an equipment is at best 4-5 years), and about Rs 10-20K for each
faculty every year for their enhancement. In other words, in a department
with 15 faculty and a total of 200 students, support of the order of Rs
10-15 lakhs per year is needed.
Similarly, increasing the output of a recognized engineering college or an
IIT will require an infusion of funds. For example, to increase the number
of computer science graduates from a place like IIT or a good engineering
college by about 100 people per year, will require hostel accommodation for
400, and new laboratories and computing equipment. Even if the institution
absorbs the cost of additional faculty and staff needed to support this, the
funds needed for this expansion will be to the tune of Rs 2 to 3 crore for
the building of hostels and labs, and about Rs 20-30 lakhs per year for
equipment.
Overall, for increasing the output by about 500 engineers per year will
require a capital expense of about Rs 10-15 crore, and recurring expense of
about Rs 1-2 crore per year. And raising the quality of 50
universities/engineering colleges, will require a recurring expense expense
of about Rs 5 to 7 crore per year. These amounts are quite small, if one
compares with the size of the software industry in India - current turnover
estimated to be over Rs 1000 crore !
Role of Industry
Given that no recognized engineering college will be allowed to raise the
tuition fees to anywhere near the actual education cost, there are only two
ways to get the required support - either the government supports it, or the
industry picks it up.
As higher education is getting a step motherly treatment in these days of
single pointed focus on growth rates and reserves, there is little chance
that the government will provide the necessary resources. As the lobby power
of academicians is limited, the only way the government will possibly
provide this support is if the busness lobby exerts its considerable
influence. This, unfortunately, will not happen as the business groups use
their lobbying to push for tax cuts, duty cuts, etc., which gives them more
immediate returns.
So, the only real alternative is for the industry to provide the support
needed for manpower development. And with the recent tax deductions,
industry support automatically implies a partial government support. It
should also be clear that the industry needs to support this not for any
altruistic goals but for its own benefit. After all, it is the industry that
will consume the output of this investment. Hence, an organization like
NASSCOM, MAIT, or CII should really take this matter up in all earnestness.
Viewing it in another manner, the industry actually will have to foot this
bill anyway. Either directly by supporting educational institutions, as has
been suggested in this article. Or indirectly by having a more expensive and
volatile manpower, and more expensive training needs. The choice of the path
for this inevitable investment rests squarely with the industry.
--
Pankaj Jalote, Professor and Head, Department of Computer Science and
Engineering, IIT Kanpur 208016
Tel: +91-512-597619 (o); Tel: + 91-512-598501 (r); Fax: +91-512-590725/413
Email: jalote [AT] iitk.ac.in; URL:
www.cse.iitk.ac.in |
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