Amid reports of mass IT layoffs, often refuted by industry giants such as Infosys, Cognizant and Capgemini, it has also been said that techies have been struggling with anxiety and depression. Just a few days ago, a techie in Pune even committed suicide and said in the suicide note that he had no job security and was worried about work and his family.
However, an industry veteran believes that these reports of depression among IT professionals are "exaggerated." Speaking about the reports of how techies have been turning to online counselling and calling help lines, former chief financial officer of Infosys TV Mohandas Pai said that some people are anxious about it, but it was all "based on media hype."
"Just like earlier reports of layoffs, it's (reports of anxiety and depression) totally exaggerated, fear mongering etc," Pai told PTI. "But there is no substance to the (reports of) anxiety as there are no large-scale layoffs. The number speaks for itself."
Not just that Pai also spoke about the reports that have said that about six lakh IT jobs are likely to be cut in the next three years and labelled the "total rubbish and total lie."
"One quarter is over and we are in the midst of the second quarter. The two big companies (TCS and Infosys) have given their results. There are no layoffs in these companies," he added.
"I think this (large-scale layoffs and anxiety and depression among IT employees) is all a lie spread by somebody to get publicity and create anxiety and drum up business for them."
Pai also said that many people have left good companies because they have landed a better offer from some other company, which proves that there is no dearth of jobs in the market. "If somebody has not worked, if somebody is surplus (for a company), and asked to go, they can always go to the next shop and get a job. Eighty five per cent of the people who are asked to go get jobs within 90 days," Pai added.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that someone has said that the layoffs are overstated. Krishnamurthy Shankar, group head of human resource development at Infosys explained that the IT jobs cuts are being exaggerated. He also said that as the industry grows at a rapid pace each year, employees will definitely need to keep up with the changing standards.
Infosys COO Pravin Rao in early June had also said that reports of job losses are "overstated."
"I think all the news about job losses are overstated. Infosys itself last year recruited over 20,000 people and this year again, we are likely to repeat similar numbers," Rao had explained.
