Its been long that i posted anything. And why? Lesser coffee sessions and lesser chats..
Work has become hectic nowadays ... a strange phenomenon in the times of recession .. but yes its true. And when it becomes hectic, it becomes boring.
I am in India, probably the country which is least affected by recession as it appears, if you do not consider the lay-offs. The part of our economy that is dependent on the west is affected only i believe. If you are reading the newspaper everyday, you would know. Recent headlines being, air conditioners and refrigerators sales increase 35%, Indian auto majors in all time high profits, PSUs declaring record quaterly results etc etc. Indian market is not affected. A huge part of the working class are employed in Govt jobs and their salaries have seen a steep rise in the recent year. The middle class is getting richer, cultivating luxurious desires in their mind and they are not stopping themeselves fulfilling them. Thanks to them, cash is still flowing in the market.
When you come to the real estate the story is a bit different. Their major customer is the highly paid IT sector which has seen a downfall recently. The reason being their dependency on the American economy which is in deep shit. But comparatively with the measures that they have taken, for instance, major cost cuttings by reducing travels, paid leaves, lesser use of resources etc etc., they now realise what were they misusing and that their profits could have been even higher had they walked on this line before. Sometimes, recession looks to be an Awareness mission, an eye-opener to the executives running billion dollar businesses. As it is rightly said, you get the maximum out of your brain when you actually need it which in turn reflects that recession has asked us to start thinking, to make more use of our grey cells, which we would have never done otherwise.
I too work for a company whose economy is largely dependent on US and I am fortunate enough that I am still not jobless though i do not expect much increments in our salaries. The first increment, the first promotion might not be as exciting as the first job and the first salary. But then there is a ratio we would always look at: the output we are giving to the input we recieve which is becoming higher and higher. Work has increased, at least in my firm, lesser people employed for the same job, cuts on resources, sharp and stiff deadlines and much more. At the same time, no increment means lesser inputs, lesser resources that we consume, no team outings, entertainment, more hours at work, have to even fight time for coffee with friends. The job was already not much exciting and recession has snatched away even that much. Many are saying that its a good time for higher studies and yes it is. The competition has increased even more. Many fresh graduates are jobless and they are more in need of that degree. The cost of a degree has also risen tremendously though they cannot promise a job good enough to repay the loan that the students would take. Thinking about all this sometimes creates an attitude of "Why am I existing, when everything is temporary and going to end soon" sorts. But the consolation is in the attitude itself that everything is temporary and it will end soon.
The ones who are just one year into their first job are most affected i guess after the ones who still do not have one. They are strangling themselves in the thoughts of a higher degree or a better job or continuing this job. They are the ones who are most Lay-off-phobic. They do not even have enough capital to invest which their richer managers are doing with the saved cash over the years. They hope for a good rise in salary after one year into the job only to find that they are hoping against hope. Situations like these are even responsible for suicide cases of the best brains in the world. Recently i got to know that one of our batchmates who had passed out from one of the best engineering colleges of India succumbed to recession. Students belonging to the middle and lower middle class who could not afford the education and took heavy loans have nowhere to go without a job. They are cursing themselves that they were born in the wrong time. Their families are also completely out of any clue, helpless and giving up.
The future of so many bright brains of this country is at stake. The rusted sword of recession is still sharp enough to rip their confidence apart. The govt is doing a lot to control this situation. Our banks are still doing strong when major banks across the globe have collapsed. Financially, the Govt companies are going very strong. A large section of the freshers have opted for government jobs this year bringing fresh and aspiring talent into these organizations which would obviously gain a lot. Also, the ones recruited in these jobs are more or less recession proof with a salary even higher than the private jobs. They are the happiest amongst us today. Somtime down the line they would be the most in demand in the private sector companies as they always allure people from the public sector to buy their talent.
Looking at it positively, this is a good learning experience in life and only a few are fortunate enough to face this.
A really haphazard post it is - all the trash in my head is just dumped into this bin. Hope the coffee stimulates something good out of me next time.
