| Satish Bindra’s (name changed) resume would have been tossed into the dustbin, 10 years ago. With four different jobs in the space of six years, he would have most likely been seen a rolling stone, an unreliable job hopper. Instead, Bindra’s career is flourishing. He’s moved in and out of well-known firms, in the IT space, gathering stock all the way. And each one of his past employers has given him a good reference.
Yes, the 90s IT industry, completely changed the rules for how long employees stay at their jobs - or even how long employers expected them to stay. Now, of course attrition is gaining critical mass.
Raunak Sahai (name changed) of 26, who began as a trainee in a small media house two years back is today a senior reporter with a leading English daily, has changed seven jobs in three years. He draws more than three times his first salary. Almost ditto for the 25-year-old Rucha who has switched five jobs in two years. She began as a caller in a BPO and today heads the sales department of a top-rung IT firm. “I couldn’t expect growth as fast as this, if I stayed longer with any organization. And if one does get an opportunity, why miss it?” she asks.
It’s a great time to be an employee today. With the market throwing job opportunities by the score every nano-second, everyone wants a share of the pie. The bad news for employers is that job mobility is likely to get even more pronounced. The attrition numbers reflect a sea change in people’s attitudes about their careers and changing jobs. The days are gone when many people could expect to spend their entire careeer in a single company, slowly moving up the ladder, and retiring with a fat pension. “The regard that people had for these values has vanished now. Sticking with the same organization is, most of the times, looked down at,” agrees Shiv Agarwal, CEO, ABC Consultants.
Today’s youngsters want to enhance their standard of living, keep up with the Jones’ and manage their own career in real time. A survey, conducted last year by an HR consultancy firm Ma Foi Consultancies , said 24 per cent of the graduates from premier B-schools like IIMs, XLRI and Narsee Monjee quit their first jobs within 12 months of being hired owing to a mismatch in the salary received and that assured. “It’s peer pressure besides monetary satisfaction that motivates the job-hopping psychology,” says IIFT, corporate and placement advisor, Monish Bhargava.
What’s more, the red flag that has been raised, isn’t likely to be lowered anytime soon. “This switching will continue for at least the next five years and the biggest chunk of hoppers is the one with five-10 years of experience,” says Mihir Mallick, plant head, HR, Goodyear. Adds Bhargava , “There are a lot of fresh graduates who switch several jobs within the first few years. This is because they are not mature enough to realize what they want. So they first take up a job and after gathering experience move on to make a career” .
But how does this reflect on your CV? What message does it send across to your prospective employers? “Cases of people changing three-four jobs in a year is nothing new and agri-business is the worst hit in this regard. For this very reason Reliance Retail now hires twice it’s requirement. If the demand is X, companies hire 1.3X. Sectors like agribusiness and IT where the blow is felt the most, job-hopping doesn’t reflect badly in a resume. Unlike few years back, when we advised against job-hopping, today consistency is not an issue,” points Ajay Gupta, CEO, Ruralnaukri, a rural placement portal.
Job-hopping becomes inevitable in volatile industries such as media, retail and IT, but hopping from one job to another in rapid succession can have hidden consequences. Pointing out a few drawbacks of the practice, Mallick says, “These rolling stones fail to acquire in-depth knowledge of any particular field and remain unexposed to the nuances of running a business”.
The demand-supply gap is so huge that companies today are busy attracting the best of the lot, not focusing on the growth trajectory of the employee. “While the Indian companies have come to terms with it, MNCs do look at it suspiciously. This is because they haven’t seen such rapid changes in their respective countries,” adds Agarwal.
A resume full of short stints might be looked at suspiciously and lead the employer to believe that either you are unable to get along with your coworkers or have no willlingness to learn and grow. “Right now the hoppers are enjoying the ride as companies need more and more people and are willing to overlook the stability factor. But once the economy stabilizes, which it is bound to, at some point of time, it’s the sturdy folks who will survive,” opines Agarwal.
Retaining employees is a big challenge today. Some organisations try to hold on to departing employees by countering. Experts, however, says the best way to retain skilled workers is to continually check that salaries are competitive and make sure individual employees feel challenged and appreciated . “The companies are trying different techniques to retain executives by creating growth opportunities. They designate people to run various units of the business, making it look like they are running their own business. The whole organizational structure is changing due to this,” says Bhargava.
So how does one justify frequent job-hopping? “Move from one job to another, but only for the right reasons,” says Agarwal. “If a person is growing within an organization before making a move, switching is all right. However, the mentality of moving out only to gain a higher position is wrong,” he adds.
So as long as you’re moving up the learning curve, it pays rich dividends both for you and your organisation. |
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