We never thought it would. It was one of the most utopian of careers, a matter of pride and ego (sadly they co-exist), heady lifestyles, a topic our parents would keep talking about in their circles. We have had a bouquet of roses till now and now its time for the brickbats.
Sadly, this was not to be the scenario for long. A saturation point some may call or a reality check as I would put, on the amount of capital floating around in the market of Information Technology is what is holding the world in ransom. Why the whole world, some may ask, because recession (a dreaded word now) has not hit all verticals, segments, domains, and is still untouched in many areas, but I strongly feel that the meltdown has hit where it hurts the most, the epitome of the the world businesses, BFSI and IT. You need money and you need projects. One of them is hit and the world shudders. Why such a colossal example, the fact that even my grandmother sitting in one of the remote corners in Kerala had asked "How is the job situation there?", itself proves that if not 'real'ly, one is 'virtual'ly tormented by the global economic meltdown.
There are quite a few alternate sustenance options that have now come to the forefront which were hitherto not heard of or may be not even considered anywhere near to an IT career. No, I am not talking about the Government jobs, or doing your MBA for the next 2 years after which the ever so hopeful human species expects things would settle down and become normal. I am talking about maybe doing a part time job in a restaurent, going to your village to teach students, start your own eatery, or may be even doing agriculture. After all they at least guarentee money.
The world surely behaves as a vicious cycle, not even the best of the best are unaffected. Scores of pinkslips everyday, many more to come in the future, every 5th person I read about is a victim of an uncertain job, articles that drive you nuts when you already know how bad the situation is and dont need to be told so. We are forced to think and say; O.K, so now what if these news turns into reality and the news item is actually you. What then?
As a child, most of us used to live on limited incomes provided by our parents. Had we not been thrown into the lap of luxury, we would have learnt to sustain on with bare minimums. So why not now? These are testing times and only the fittest and the least expecting survive. Let us stop acting pricey and demand the sky when we dont have an assured piece of earth to stand on. Taking stock of the situation today and living a mediocre life will ensure that we at least live with dignity in the future.
Today everybody seems to be talking of a new buzz word "cost cutting". But has anyone realized that it is this cost cutting that is resulting in the stagnant economy. The automobile market is down, giants like the Ford have become bankrupt and are at the mercy of the Govt to bail them out. Retailers are offering discounts like as if they are selling scrap. Land rates are being reduced almost every fortnightly, interest and loan rates are falling like a pack of cards...the list is endless.....But why is the market behaving so downwardly sloppy? Has anyone thought about it. Maybe, but nobody is doing anything to counter it. It is not a good sigh as many may think. It is a sign of a receeding economy. These are indications given to us, the consumers to put our hands in our pockets and SPEND. Yes, Spend. Thats the only way the market will regain momentum and henceforth attain the much needed stability. Sounds ironical, but its so very true. If we dont spend and buy a car, the automobile companies will not get business and they will inturn not give us any projects, so we are left project less. The vicious cycle......remember?
