Job fears make NRIs stay at work

Source: Economic Times on Dec 2 2008
Ready with their backpacks, they wait for the Christmas break impatiently to head home for reunion with their families in India. This year however, global slowdown is forcing several NRIs to stay put in their respective countries of employment fearing jobloss behind their backs.

With employers following “out of sight, out of mind” policy, more aggressively than even before in wake of the ongoing economic crisis, fear-psychosis has gripped almost all employees—locals and migrants—alike , observes Ma Foi Management Consultants CEO E Balaji. “Since the last several years, it has been a practice among NRIs to visit India during Christmas break. But not this year.

No matter what the employment contract says, it is easier to fire white-collared employees in these times. At a time when even locals are turning up at their workplaces well before time and deliberately staying put till late hours just to ensure their visibility to their employers, do NRIs stand a chance to hold on to their jobs if they take breaks? The fear of losing job at these times is well-founded ,” he points out. “One must remain visible at these times to assert their association with an organisation,” Balaji reasons.

IT professional Ramesh Krishnan (name changed) for instance, has been given an ultimatum by his company in the US. Scheduled to get married later this month, the 28-year-old was to head for India in the first week of December . But now, he has been asked to make a choice - remain a bachelor for now, or get fired! Even as Krishnan’s fate hangs in balance, his counterparts have decided to not do anything to trigger such action from their companies.