Illustrator: Omkarnath Bhattacharya

You could call it a curious coincidence: techies both in India and the UK are planning to leave their companies for greener pastures. In India, the IT sector is once again looking up. Attrition levels are climbing. A survey by MyHiring.com says that IT, financial services and healthcare are going to lead the coming jobs boom.

Switch to another survey, this time in the UK. “Business faces flight of frustrated techies,” reports the IT Job Board. Its recent survey says that 42 per cent IT pros are actively seeking work and 52 per cent are keeping an eye on the jobs market. During the recent recession, 40 per cent IT workers thought about a change of career. It is not known how many made the move, but that is not really a measure; in bleak times, if you can’t get a job in your own line, you can hardly expect to gatecrash into another.

Why are UK techies so disillusioned? More than 60 per cent expect to see either no increase or a minimal increase in their next salary review. And 61 per cent do not expect to receive a bonus.

In India, on the other hand, people are anticipating large hikes. According to Kelly Services India, the days of double-digit salary growth are back. Says managing director Kamal Karanth, “The IT sector, which took a while to come out of the slowdown, is seeing a lot of action at the middle-level. Most have two-three offers and are availing of counter-offers from their current employers or even spot bonuses which are being used to retain them.”

Switch back to the UK. “Businesses could be in for a shock as we climb out of recession,” says Alexandra Farrell, managing director of the IT Job Board. “Clearly, large numbers of highly skilled workers are contemplating their future, and considering the possibility of taking their skills elsewhere.”

It’s not in IT alone. Healthcare is another boom area in India. It could possibly replace IT as a job-hunter’s paradise. But look at the US. A survey conducted by AMN Healthcare, a provider of healthcare staffing and management, says that nearly 25 per cent of registered nurses plan to search for other employment when the economy recovers.

You can look at it from a wider perspective. A new study by Nathan Bowling, assistant professor at Wright State University, has found that people unhappy in life are unlikely to find satisfaction at work. Indians have traditionally been happier than their rat-race contemporaries in the US and the UK. Neighbouring Bhutan measures Gross National Happiness, not Gross National Product. It’s mainly the people who measure calorie intake and other esoteric stuff who declare that most of India is very poor and, therefore, very unhappy.

A study by Assocham shows that the overall job satisfaction in India is impressively high. The satisfaction is most at the middle level. “If you have a satisfied mass at the middle, you have a smooth-functioning organisation,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant D. Singh. “Of course, that wouldn’t do in the West. They would equate that with growing lazy and fat. They have a different perspective on what happiness is.”

A recent Mercer survey in the US says that half of all US employees are not happy with their current job. One in three is considering leaving. The sense of commitment to employers is down.

Will they go? The US labour department reports that only 1.4 per cent voluntarily left their jobs in April. Dream jobs are very often just that — dreams.

HAPPY AT WORK

What makes for job satisfaction?

21% Salary

20%Environment

18% Challenge

15% Progression

12% Colleagues

8% Training

6% Fun