T V Mohandas Pai Claims IT Firms Deliberately Paying Less To Freshers!
As per Pai, this has been going on for several years now.
The legend of T V Mohandas Pai is not actually hidden: He is the Chairman of Manipal Global Education and former director of Infosys.
And when he claims that the largest IT firms in India have been forming a ‘cartel’ to deliberately lower freshers’ salary, then we need to pause and listen.
Because this is a very serious allegation.
Pai: Freshers Being Denied Good Salary Due By Cartels!
In a recent interview, IT veteran and entrepreneur T V Mohandas Pai has claimed that some of the largest IT companies in India have formed a cartel, which ensures that they are able to hire freshers for dirt cheap salary, but at the same time keep on increasing salaries of experienced fellows.
And as per Pai, this has been going on for several years now. He said,
“There is a cartel…there has been a cartel, there is no doubt. They (big IT companies) talk to each other, sometimes tell each other not to increase, that’s been there for a long time,”
Pai’s statements hold weight here because the salary which a fresher gets at any IT company has, in fact, come down by 50% in the last seven years.
A major red flag.
How Can This Happen?
Cartels are groups of company or producers, who make a deal within themselves to increase their collective profits, by fixing their prices and violating open-market fundamentals.
As per Pai, HR heads of major IT firms meet up regularly and discuss the salaries which they are paying. Within themselves, they finalize a salary beyond which no fresher can get anything, and once it happens, then there are very few options left for the fresher.
He is offered the same salary everywhere, hence denied the rightful pay which he or she deserves.
In short, the IT companies are killing careers, to make their money.
Supporting his claim, he said, “That’s why attrition in the first five years is very high”
As per Pai, IT firms use the factors of over-supply of engineers, low-quality education and lack of jobs to form such cartels, and restrict the amount of salary which a deserving fresher should get.
In other words, these big IT companies are playing with the careers of freshers here.
Pai said,
“To me, it’s an ethical, fairness issue; they can afford to pay more. (Not raising entry-level salary is) ethically and morally wrong,”, adding, “People who are paid low should get more. Best guys don’t want to come and join the industry.”
Maybe this is the reason that freshers are being fired indiscriminately, even as hiring for senior executives is in full swing.
This year has seen a bloodbath in the IT sector, as more than 50,000 employees have faced terminations. Although automation and AI have been attributed as one of the reasons, it seems there is something beyond which is being hidden from us.
Do you think Pai is correct in his assessment of cartels in IT sector? Do let us know your views by commenting right here!
