RECESSION SAYS IT ALL!

As we know, there are vast numbers of Indians working abroad in IT companies. One of the major impacts of recession or economic slowdown has been on such midsized IT companies and to some extent, the big players too. This has created a scenario where employers are cutting back on contracts and are forced to lay off workers. Layoffs will be affecting people working in countries other than their own as they will be the first ones to be fired. This is so because obviously every country would not want to keep their citizens jobless and employ a foreigner.

This is exactly what happened to my sister’s Indian friend, Mrs. Reddy who stays in Ireland. Mrs. Reddy thought that she had it all made. Her husband was placed highly in an MNC, they had bought a lovely house and what’s more, she too had secured a job in the same company. So they could commute to and fro to work together. But as ill times would have it, the recession hit and slowly employees in their company started to get the pink slips. Fearing the same would happen to them, Mrs. Reddy decided on what she thought would be the rational move to make. She quit her job and took up another offer presuming that at such an alarming rate of terminations in their present company, either or both she and Mr. Reddy could be asked to leave. So, by joining another company, at least one of them would be in a job.

Much to their chagrin, their plan backfired as the company Mrs. Reddy joined also began to lay- off its employees and the first ones asked to leave were the ones who had joined in the recent three months. So Mrs. Reddy lost her job and within a few days Mr. Reddy was asked to leave. But he got a hefty compensation as did all the people who were in the company for a year or more. Unfortunately Mrs. Reddy lost not only her job but this compensation as well.

Now she has returned to India and is staying alternately with her parents and in-laws while her husband is still in Ireland desperately hunting for a job before his visa expires failing which he will have to return as well. They will not be able to procure a good price for their house or car with the falling economy and it pains their hearts to see their dreams crumble just when things were on an upscale.

Another incident which is a little out of the ordinary is the one that happened to my colleague’s sister. The girl has been staying in California, US for the past four years and now when her parents started pressurizing her to give her consent for marriage, she agreed to it but with a condition of her own. She insisted that the boy should be working in California as she wanted to settle there. Her parents, after a lot of pains, did find a boy working there. Both the parties were agreeable to the match, the boy and girl liked each other and just before talks headed towards the planning of the betrothal, the boy lost his job and had to return to India. Now all talks have come to a standstill. The girl is adamant about her decision and the boy is still hunting for a job not knowing whether he will get one in India or California. Now one wonders whether things will move forward if the boy does get a job in California or what would have taken place if the girl were to lose her job and return to India. Yet another effect of recession!

Fortunately for India there was no real recession, albeit some sectors were affected. Job losses became common leading to a fear psychosis gripping not just affected industries but others as well. The recession mind set has led to some value choices being made which may remain with the Indian consumer as we head into the future.

So, while Indians have not seen recession, they have been affected by the ‘recession psyche’. The outcome will undoubtedly be smarter, savvier and economically sensible Indians heading into the future.