Rohit
Arondekar

Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL technologies has just made an incredibly stupid statement about American graduate students, in America. He was speaking to an audience of about 50 customers and partners in New York when he made the claim that American grad students are “unemployable”. A small excerpt from the article on Global CIO Blog, Information Week -

Many American grads looking to enter the tech field are preoccupied with getting rich, Vineet said. They’re far less inclined than students from developing countries like India, China, Brazil, South Africa, and Ireland to spend their time learning the “boring” details of tech process, methodology, and tools–ITIL, Six Sigma, and the like.

Sense and sensibility

Now this whole issue is very sensitive especially due to the recent steps taken by the Obama administration to curb offshore outsourcing of IT related jobs. However I find these comments by HCL’s CEO quite funny. He has indirectly called his Indian IT work force dumb. How so you ask? Well think about it. American grads are more interested in building the next big thing. That simply translates to – they are more interested in innovating, changing the status quo and building the next Google, Microsoft, Yahoo or Hewlett Packard. Contrary to this our Indian IT industry is grounded on servicing. The sole purpose of apparent technology power houses of India like HCL is to – well actually the title of their web site says it the best -

HCL Technologies: Offshore Software Development, Outsourcing Software Development Services, Custom Application.

Buzzwords are good for you

Okay so what is wrong with that? I mean you can make loads of money doing work for American and European companies for a fraction of the billing their US/European counterparts would charge them. So what does all this have to do with the Indian IT work force being dumb? The Indian IT workforce is reduced to becoming assembly line workers. American or European counterparts will chalk out the requirements and send them to India. Indian software developers build the product “as per” the requirements specified. No need to think outside the box. No need to innovate or question the requirements. I mean why would you question people who are paying you top dollar (to be read as bottom dollar) to just get the work done for cheap? No reason at all.

Show me the money!

It all boils down to making money. No business whether an innovation powerhouse like Google or an assembly line of coders like HCL will deny it. But it is how you make money that makes all this very interesting. I think given the choice of hiring employees that fall in the following two categories

1. Somebody who questions, thinks outside the box, tries to question the status quo, tries to build something that challenges existing norms and isn’t afraid to take risks.
2. Somebody who doesn’t question, follows the process diligently, practically does whatever is told without giving a second thought and thinks that this is in the best interest of the company (to be read as a bonus in salary).

Mr. Vineet Nayar’s HCL would definitely hire the 2nd group while a company like Google or Microsoft would jump at the opportunity of hiring the 1st group. Why? Because quite simply companies like Microsoft and Google understand that building products and taking risks is ultimately the only way to build a technological empire. Apparently people like Mr. Vineet Nayar thinks that doing the dirty work of other countries makes you top dog. However innovating and trying to challenge people to use technology to solve problems is the best route to success.

Irony

The most ironic thing about his comment is that he might actually be insulting the same people who will end up paying for his laundry. Ultimately it’s the big thinkers, risk takers, product makers and innovators who will end up outsourcing their trivial work to countries like India. After all it does make perfect sense to outsource your assembly line work and focus on more important matters – such as solving problems.

Concluding thoughts

To end my little rant at Mr. Vineet Nayar’s foot in mouth comment I have a simple question aimed at him – When was the last time a company like Google or Microsoft emerged out of our so called IT powerhouse of a country? Answer is plain and simple. Never.