Medieval policies of Indian Bodyshopping companies

Barring money and fear, I feel there is no motivation for a consultant to work for a software bodyshopping company. One finds a lot of companies in India who lack the ability to bag independent projects getting into bodyshopping. This trend is definitely disturbing as this tends to bring down the quality of work of consultants who lack the motivation of doing actual good work. My advice to companies hiring consultants from bodyshopping companies is: ‘one cannot win a war by hiring mercenaries’.

Most top Indian software companies continue with this sad practice of bodyshopping, which though earns them a fair amount of revenue, is however detrimental to the growth of the company in the long run. Most of these bodyshopping companies typically apply the old trick of carrot and stick policy. On one hand the consultant would be promised the moon, and on the other hand they would force the consultant to sign on all sorts of illegal 'legal' documents, so as to ensure that the consultant does not leave the organization. A couple of weeks back a friend of mine working for a shady bodyshopping company wished to leave the organization. From the moment he put in his papers, his life became a living hell. The company threatened him of legal action and refused to relieve him. Only when this poor chap paid the employer an astronomical sum (his last 6 months salary) did the company release him. This sad situation is nothing very unique to small companies. Many medium and big scale Indian software companies adopt this policy. Sadly most software consultants do not have the time or the money to fight legal battles with organizations.

The problem stems from the fact that in India almost all companies insist on the relieving letter of previous employer as a necessary document, without which the person will not be eligible for employment. If this document is not made mandatory then consultants will not be at the mercy of such cheating organizations. However as most of the recruiting organizations themselves indulge in bodyshopping, one cannot expect any dramatic changes in recruitment policies. I feel NASSCOM and Govt. of India should come down heavily on organizations who ask employees to sign bonds (usually these bonds are like, if a consultant leaves the organization before a said period of 18 months, sometime 3 years then he/she has to pay a very high bond amount in order to get relieved from the organization). Also sometimes these organizations would ask the consultant to attend a training and post that would force the consultant to sign such bonds, in which case if a consultant leaves the organization, he/she has to shell out a huge sum as training expenses in order to get relieved. And the worst kinds of bonds that consultants’ sign, are those when they go out of India on a work permit to some other country. The bodyshopping companies ask consultants going to work in other countries, to sign bonds which restrict them from seeking employment elsewhere, and per chance if they plan to leave then they need to pay astronomical sums to get relieved from the organization.

Hopefully Indian organizations will arise from their medieval mindsets and become more employee-friendly and gather their own self respect and the respect of future and existing employees.