IT firms turn tough, want full notice period from staff

A large number of information technology companies in India are becoming stricter with departing employees and are asking them to serve the full notice period to ensure that business activities are not affected by a sudden shortage of manpower.

IT companies, whose revenues primarily depend on projects from their clients with a time-bound delivery, face serious risks to their businesses if skilled staff makes a sudden exit, HR experts said.

"Now with the revival in the job market, companies want to hold on to their employees with critical skills and so they may be becoming stricter with regard to serving of full notice periods," Ma Foi Randstad president (staffing/selection & training) E Balaji told PTI.

"The trend of asking employees to serve the full notice period is being followed by many IT services companies. This is being done to reduce the risk on projects (from manpower resources perspective) and to get sufficient time to get replacement for a position," executive search firm GlobalHunt director Sunil Goel said.

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Notice period for employees generally refers to the amount of time specified in terms and conditions of employment that an employee must work between resigning from a firm and joining another.

Recruitment process outsourcing firm Elixir's manager IT practice Sitipragyan Rath Chadha said that it has become imperative for firms to review their relieving policies to manage higher employee turnover amid rising opportunities in the market.

"IT employees are usually deployed in time-based projects and attrition can cause severe shortfall on deliverables, hence companies are focusing on evolving their policies regarding notice periods," Chadha added.

Experts said stricter relieving policies by firms may make it tougher for employees specially in middle and junior levels to make a shift.

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Usually notice periods for middle and junior level staff is one month, while in some cases it may be three months.

"At leadership level, future employer do give flexibility to serve the full notice period in many cases if the buy-out is not possible. But future employers are not willing to wait for three months notice period being served by employees at mid and junior levels," Goel said.

Goel said companies are validating parallel resources, those who can join as soon as possible, and 90 days mandatory notice period can be an obstacle for many of the good job opportunities for many.

"Notice period does impact negatively on an outgoing employee with a good offer, but as more firms realise benefits of honouring notice periods, they will also keep positions on hold for deserving candidates," Chadha added.