High attrition rates have forced IT companies to introduce a bond while recruiting students from various colleges across the country. A failure to stay with the organization with the committed term would lead the employee to dish out the sum agreed to in the bond. Not many applicants are happy about the bond and in fact IITs across the country have refused to entertain organizations that come with a prerequisite of a bond. IIT-M academic affairs secretary Anuraag NVS, had the following to say on the introduction of bonds “Most candidates are not signing any bonds. We tell the companies that they need to incentivise students to work for them.”
Students today are very experimental and sticking with a company for more than two years unless they see scope for growth is unimaginable. Students are not averse to joining a small organization that allows their skills to be tested and offers them a hefty pay package. The brand of the organization matters, but when an opportunity comes their way that provides them with job satisfaction and good pay, the brand name can be ignored.
While companies state that the bond is a good idea because this way they can ensure that the time and energy they spend in training their employees is not a waste, students beg to differ. Companies like Wipro, Infosys, Satyam and TCS have all introduced bonds for freshers, but it has unfortunately been met with a lot of scepticism. To clarify the introduction, an Infosys spokesperson defended the bond by saying, "We make huge investments, both in terms of money and time, on our new recruits.” Last year Infosys spent $175 million dollars on training fresher, singing a bond now, doesn’t seem like so much to ask.
Wipro requires students to put down Rs 75000 as fixed deposit and failure to stick with the company for an agreed period of time would simply transfer the money to the company from the bank FDR. A fresher at Satyam said, “I had to take a loan of Rs 2 lakh for my bond amount. I have been working for almost a year now and continue to pay Rs 2,500 per month as interest on my two-year loan.”
The economy has picked up over the last one year and employment opportunities are increasing, students no longer want to be treated as bonded labour and wish to remain free and change their jobs as and when they please.
The days of loyalty and patronage to one’s organization have long gone, if you dangle a golden carrot in front of an employee, he will follow you and will leave you just as easily when another more lucrative carrot comes his way. The introduction of bonds may not be the best way to retain talent, as talent will not pick up a job knowing that they are bound to a company that does not offer them job satisfaction.
Students today are very experimental and sticking with a company for more than two years unless they see scope for growth is unimaginable. Students are not averse to joining a small organization that allows their skills to be tested and offers them a hefty pay package. The brand of the organization matters, but when an opportunity comes their way that provides them with job satisfaction and good pay, the brand name can be ignored.
While companies state that the bond is a good idea because this way they can ensure that the time and energy they spend in training their employees is not a waste, students beg to differ. Companies like Wipro, Infosys, Satyam and TCS have all introduced bonds for freshers, but it has unfortunately been met with a lot of scepticism. To clarify the introduction, an Infosys spokesperson defended the bond by saying, "We make huge investments, both in terms of money and time, on our new recruits.” Last year Infosys spent $175 million dollars on training fresher, singing a bond now, doesn’t seem like so much to ask.
Wipro requires students to put down Rs 75000 as fixed deposit and failure to stick with the company for an agreed period of time would simply transfer the money to the company from the bank FDR. A fresher at Satyam said, “I had to take a loan of Rs 2 lakh for my bond amount. I have been working for almost a year now and continue to pay Rs 2,500 per month as interest on my two-year loan.”
The economy has picked up over the last one year and employment opportunities are increasing, students no longer want to be treated as bonded labour and wish to remain free and change their jobs as and when they please.
The days of loyalty and patronage to one’s organization have long gone, if you dangle a golden carrot in front of an employee, he will follow you and will leave you just as easily when another more lucrative carrot comes his way. The introduction of bonds may not be the best way to retain talent, as talent will not pick up a job knowing that they are bound to a company that does not offer them job satisfaction.
keeping a bond is not a problem with most of the students, but keeping a fixed deposit with the company is what keeps them away from accepting the bond. A fresher applying for the first job may not be able to deposit the big amount of money...the companies should think of some other way.
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