Satyam Employees can
Form Software Cooperatives
It’s not yet declared
dead, but you’d agree Satyam Computer Services is certainly on the
deathbed. As the
troubled company
is suffering with multiple
fractures, only miracle can bring it back from the cruel hands of
death. What should employees do?
By Rakesh Raman
As the company is expected
to fall on the ground, it will crush
many others – and they’d include innocent
Satyam employees. So won’t
it be wise for them to protect themselves now? But how?
Today, when the whole world is in the grip of recession, the job
market is in a bad shape. It’ll be difficult for most to quickly
arrange a job. Moreover, other big Indian software, outsourcing
companies, citing
ethical business practices, are expressing their
reluctance to hire Satyam employees.
Though the company is expecting Rs 1,700 crore (roughly $350 million)
of receivables, it’s not certain the money will be used to pay staff
salaries. There may be other priorities to utilize this money.
Moreover, this money will not be enough to sustain, as the wage bill
itself for over 50,000 Satyam employees should be around Rs. 500 crore
(over $100 million) per month.
Smelling oncoming trouble, Satyam had even started laying off people
during late last year.
Moreover, now it’ll be more difficult to get fresh software or
outsourcing orders and the existing customers would like to run away
to Satyam’s rivals to avoid project implementation delays or service
disruptions assuming that there will be mass exodus at Satyam.
Actually, the customers would like to jump out from the sinking ship.
It’d be the foolishness of the day to expect anything good from the
slow-moving and naïve
Satyam Board, as these “6 wise men” are
presumably pushed into the Board membership positions without following
any selection norms. They are totally clueless about the modern tech
markets and tech business operations. These are like
trainee directors
taking ordinary steps even when the situation demands extraordinary
approach. In fact, these directors need direction.
The CEO and other new faces at the top are expected to come from the
tech market. But they won’t come with a magic wand to instill life into
the dying company. The situation is going to be worse for them than
running even a startup because of Satyam’s tarnished image after the fraud.
Now, what are the options for the employees? The situation seems to be
going from bad to worse. As said, Satyam’s top rivals won’t hire them
and it’ll be difficult for smaller tech players to accommodate nearly
50,000 people. These days, the global job market is also weak.
And believe me no amount of bank loans or equities can help the
employees as much as they can help themselves.
Then is it the end of the road for Satyam people? No. They can still
succeed if they are ready to turn this threat into an opportunity.
Though it’ll be a totally new concept, they can form software
cooperatives on the lines of village cooperatives for vegetables,
milk, etc.
Since they have plenty of experience in the software markets, they can
sell their joint services directly to the user organizations or on
subcontract basis to big Indian companies. Plus, they need to think
differently to target emerging business areas in which
Indian software
industry in general has so far failed to operate.
Like any other project in today’s competitive world, this will also be
difficult but quite possible. A workable model can be designed to form
these tech cooperatives while
it’s beyond the scope of this article.
Taking Satyam episode as a blessing in disguise, employees need to
unite and stand up for their own cause and to save the reputation of
the country as a whole. Now, they just need a leader who could act as
a strong thread to tie them together to chase a common goal. And that
leader is there – among them only.
Rakesh Raman
is the managing editor of My Techbox Online.
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