An ode to the Indian software engineer
Why I will never do organic farming AFTER my software career
It is very hard to walk around southern India (the mecca of outsourced global software development) today without meeting someone who has left behind their successful software career and has begun the alternate career of an organic farmer or a life coach or a photographer. While I have nothing against folks exploring their “true” calling in life, I am also surprised at the number of people who have quit their software careers and have started a new vocation.
As a practicing software professional for over two decades, I have always wondered why do people do what they do? My association has been with various businesses in the software industry both in the “service” and in the “product” space and my examples below are from both sides of the industry.
Why do people quit software careers?
I am postulating a series of thoughts on why software engineers quit their what is considered lucrative jobs to do other jobs which may not pay as much. There is an inherent flaw in this kind of thinking about the problem from lucrative pay alone. I am hoping to explore all the reasons why this could happen.
They can’t keep up with the ever changing business landscape
If we look at the Indian software industry it has undergone a series of changes in just the last two decades.
Wave 1: The early 90s — software was something that was bundled with hardware. Hardware was king and people paid a massive premium for hardware and software was thrown in for free or a minimal cost, software development was sort of the maintenance engineer of the hardware being sold. You didn’t have to think you had to build what the customer wants their computer to do exactly the way they see fit.
Wave 2: The Y2K — The American dream opened up with the Year 2000 problem in software. Those who were brave enough took the plunge and emigrated to a far away land where talking once a week to family was a luxury leave along seeing them. Everyone in India spoke mainframes and were well versed with H1-B laws. The job profile involved finding consulting gigs and fixing reams of COBOL code while figuring out H1B, SSN, Building your own vegetarian meals at McDonalds and hunting for the rare desi restaurants and other desi families to network with in remote corners of America.
Wave 3: The offshoring — The smart ones figured out that the real money is in billing more than JUST themselves and more importantly in billing all their brethren back home at lower rates. Thus were born not just the big daddies of outsourcing but 100s of small and medium IT firms that moved work “offshore” and had to change their careers from technology to process design and management.
Wave 4: The Digital ecosystem — The Indian software engineers now had to go from just finding billing opportunities to re-skilling themselves into this unique full stack devops animal (pardon the French!) where, everything they do will have the word python and digital and ML with a dash of AI in them. This shift from let us do ADM to let me “digital enable your business process on a cloud scale” and such associated buzzword driven re-skilling became fundamental to retaining their jobs
Thus in a span of about roughly twenty years the software engineer had to traverse multiple countries, speak multiple accents while constantly learning new technical and management skills. There is no other job description in the job market today that undergoes such dramatic change. This shows that the Indian software elephants can dance very well.
They cannot keep up with the constant need to re-skill themselves
As engineers were surfing the waves above, they realize the constant need to re-skill themselves not just as good engineers but their own life skills as well. Many of them decided that a particular swell is too large / different etc, for them and decide to hang their hats. While they still have years of work left in them. Thus the new career is born.
They think it is a young man’s game
The average age of a TCS/Wipro/Infosys/Cognizant employee is in the range of 25–30 years. The average age of a facebook employee is 28 years. Software engineering whether we like it or not — is an young man’s game. Most of the 40 year old (the ones who fit the career shifting profile) would have graduated into management in the IT companies. Given the aggressive cost cutting focus at the top of the pyramid, there is additional pressure for someone who is not able to fit into a constantly changing paradigm in the management rungs.
They have saved up enough money that they can be content in lives
Mention an IT company employee to the common man and all he can think of is expensive houses and car and mortgage and loans to the hilt. What IT giveth other businesses taketh. The common perception of the average IT employee is that they live life in excess. While this is probably fairly realistic, there are a few of them who are money savvy and have learned to manage their wealth (or rather learned to create wealth) and grow it over time. Given a starting age of say 22 and by the time they are 40, a few of them have learned to live within their means and build enough corpus to quit their “day jobs” and pursue their passion. This is really a very small group of people and by my not so smart guess will be less than 1% of the entire IT population. Do not get confused by the fancy home and car, they are typically the UAWs who are mortgaged to their guilt and are living paycheque to paycheque. The real rich ones will not appear rich. Just successful!
They equate their job to the industry
Many of the software engineers who have risen up the rank in their respective companies may have at some point reached their pinnacle . They believe they deserve better but they have been stepped over for a particular role. What many folks don't understand is that one company doesn't make an industry. There are enough opportunities in other organisations for their profile. Unfortunately many of them have become too comfortable in their jobs that they have not “tested the waters” ever. Thus making them susceptible to this particular thinking process.
The grass is greener on the other side
This is one of the myths that gets enforced when working late nights and eating pizza and watching some lame video on the internet that shows someone having a good time in another career! The myth of everyone seeking a new career with starry eyes comes from the fact that a new career is like a new crush you cannot see the flip-side even if it is staring at you in the face.
You are too enamoured by what you think how a farmer’s world looks like. Don't forget the average movie hero running around a green field with a belle puts all sorts of vague thoughts in that pizza clouded brain.
Even the overnight successful startup that you hear about took 16 years in the making! There is a lot of mud and dirt to wade through to create the green grass.
That sums up my list of reasons and excuses for quitting software jobs. Now to understand the problem some more let us look at the opposite side. Let us walk through the mirror to the world view from other careers to software.
My knowledge in this space is limited to a few conversations I have had since I have been thinking about this problem and it doesn't have the rigour of attention that I have given in the last 25 years.
Will the reverse migration happen?
Why is it that we don't hear of someone quitting their lucrative farming life and go on and do something else. In fact why wouldn't someone in their early forties quit their farming career and start a software job? My take is that there are some interesting challenges
The knowledge Moat
A software career didn’t happen overnight — it took years of study and qualification in mathematics, computer science and a host of other subjects. A conversion from another job into software has a huge “knowledge moat”If . Modelling the term after the famous Warren Buffet’s financial term along the same lines. The industry has a steep barrier to entry if you are looking to have a meaningful career.
The media maligning
Today the software engineer doesn't get a great portrayal in the media. It is shown as a stressful career with long working hours and poor job security. If mainstream media carries such a view, there is enough resistance to trying out such a “risky” profession regardless of the rewards.
The big brother advice effect
This is another concept that I have coined after seeing the familial advice scenario. An elder brother (or uncle or aunt or sister — you get the drift) joined software industry in the early 2000s and saw the heydey of 50% salary hikes and the big parties. They fondly reminiscence those days to the youngster today telling them that the glory days are no more and it is just another professional job. If you get the drift, you will understand who is not the professional here! software industry even today is one of the fastest growing industries in the country and the #1 company in India, TCS is an IT services company. The data speaks for itself and the job opportunities abound for people with the right skills. There will be no party days again and hoping for it wouldn't really help build a professional career in this lifetime for a youngster joining the workforce.
Where do I stand on the the career switch?
In case the subtitle wasn't a dead giveaway, don't wait in baited breath for a career switch from software. I have always prided myself on knowing what I can do. I believe I do my job extremely well. A long time ago I realised that building software was my calling. I revel in it with equal gusto today as I did the day I started my career. The years have been both generous and rewarding in all the ways.
I don't have any of the reasons above every playing a role in my life. The grass is quite green right where I stand.
So are you going to change your course?
There isn't sufficient evidence that there is really greener grass on any side. If your choice has been to switch, I am hoping it was not a forced choice but an informed choice. I am glad the software career that you had so far has empowered you with perseverance, money and any other necessity of life to make that switch. I wish you all the success in your next career and would advice you to be greatful to your software career while carry the lessons learnt as you move forward.
If you had to switch due to extenuating circumstances, I think all the suggestions still apply. The lessons you learned, however painful will serve you a good steed for your next life. There is no reason to feel bad about the past choices you made and rather focus on what the future brings you.
Good luck!
