A win-win formula at Infosys

Indian information technology (IT) companies are going through a difficult period for mid-level staff. The sector is being redesigned by new trends such as automation, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Emerging technologies pose a serious threat to the traditional activities of companies, which are forced to look for employees who are familiar with new technological trends.

As companies rationalize their workforce, hire recruits with new age skills at high salaries, complete some jobs, and retire in retirement, the most vulnerable group is mid-level employees. If you're a technician in your 40's and you're not dealing with a rapidly changing era, your career might be dark.

But a glimmer of hope has now emerged for these employees. Companies have tried to retrain their staff, but recycling does not always work. However, Infosys has found a new way to retrain its staff. It is employees who are developing their skills that will help them reduce attrition and acquire a workforce ready for the future.

Infosys doubles the salaries of employees who successfully complete new transition programs. These help staff move from their current position to a position requiring higher skills. The company expects that this will also reduce the attrition rate among young employees – the rate was high, lately, to over 20% – and would offer younger employees more and more money. career options, said TOI. Other computer companies, including TCS and Wipro, also offer new methods to rehabilitate employees in areas such as consulting, automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and to encourage them to stay longer.

Infosys has developed more than half a dozen bridge programs. The Consultation Bridge Program, which began this year, targets young employees who, on average, have spent three years in the business. This is the period after which many seek jobs in rival firms for promotion and higher pay, or pursue higher education, preferably an MBA. The program aims to move employees to the board side of the company and includes a test and a three-month training program. After that, the employee has to spend six months in boarding a board project and, once completed, the role changes and the new salary structure comes into play.

"We are committed to creating a flexible internal market to allow our talents to grow, instead of letting them join, for example, an MBA course. These programs provide people with alternative opportunities for career development, "said TOI Krish Shankar, Human Resources Manager at Infosys.

Infosys said that employees participating in the programs had seen their salary increase from 80% to 120%. Some 400 people have been trained in these programs up to now. The company refused to disclose the base salary on which the increases were provided. But given that a new engineering degree starts at about 3.5 lakh a year and baduming an average increase of 10% for three consecutive years, a bridging program could pay a salary close to 9 lakh, similar to what can receive a graduate from an MBA.

Other gateway programs include a gateway to power programming for those wishing to do high-level programming, a design gateway, full-stack development and the use of the Internet. technical architecture. Programmers have to do a test and get into a hackathon. In terms of design, the company previously hired people from the National Institute of Design (NID), but is now looking to hone its own employees as the sector is expected to grow exponentially with digital technologies. "The demand for these skills will increase as we evolve, and these programs give us flexibility," said Shankar.

The Consultation Bridge Program is also part of the company's efforts to focus more on consulting, as it seeks to develop a segment dominated by groups such as IBM, Capgemini, Accenture and Deloitte. Today, customers are turning to IT vendors for advice on digital transformation and not just asking them to manage their backend operations. When asked if Indian companies were slow to map out the careers of their employees, Shankar replied that companies did. "As the industry evolves, the demand for people with specific skills increases," he said.