Continuing my India trip observations, the next set of observations relates to primarily Hyderabad’s IT industry. Parameters surrounding my observations are documented in this initial posting
Hyderabad has an active hi-tech scene and after Bangalore, is likely the second largest IT center in India. Below are some observations relating to the hi-tech industry in primarily Hyderabad.
- Six years ago, I noticed many more posters, signs, and billboards advertising IT skills programs teaching .net and java and other technology programs than this year.
- While the number of IT training course signs looked to be fewer than years ago, I noticed many more signs promoting Animation and Visual effects courses in Hyderabad and even Kerala. One of the first animated feature films was released in India and it appears animation is becoming a blossoming industry in India.
- Also, there were noticeably more signs and posters promoting courses teaching English language skills. I suspect that with the growing economy, a whole new set of support function opportunities has developed for less educated people where English skills are a requirement or offer a competitive advantage.
- This trip I had my first real opportunity to visit Hyderabad’s Hi-Tech city, an area of the city comprising of many tech company offices. Multi-national companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Nvidia, Motorola, Oracle, Computer Associates, Deloitte, and Cap Gemini all had presences there. Microsoft seems to hold the prestige award; everyone wants to work for Microsoft. Large Indian IT firms are also located there.
- Walking along Hi-tech city campuses, you notice more camaraderie amongst the engineers; much more of a collegial atmosphere. You get the impression that the engineers here are much less competitive than engineers in similar companies in the US. Particularly now as the economy is slowing in India and technology jobs are not as plentiful as the past and shifting of jobs is not as easy, I would imagine the competition for engineers within the same company for promotions, plum assignments, and survival as layoffs begin to happen will reduce the camaraderie. It will be interesting to see how this possible change in corporate culture meshes with the Indian culture of collaboration and camaraderie.
- Many of these multi-national companies such as Microsoft and Oracle have Indian offices in Hyderabad and Bangalore or other cities. As the economy slows around the world, will these companies begin to consolidate offices and select one city as Indian headquarters? And if that is the case, Hyderabad’s hi-tech scene may be at risk as Bangalore seems to be the primary location for most of these companies.
- Many Indian owned companies in non-IT sectors such as Reliance (conglomerate- telecommunications, energy) have 6 day work weeks with only Sunday off. The multi-national companies predominantly have 5 day work weeks, which I believe has also been a competitive advantage in attracting top talent. However, with the slowing economy, I wonder if more companies will move to the 6 day week or conversely, to the 5 day week. If companies have layoffs, they may be tempted to move to a 6 day work week to increase productivity with a reduced work force. On the flip side, the possibility of more companies moving to a 5 day week to prevent layoffs is possible as well.
Links to the other observations from the trip are below
Reading, Writing, and Reflecting 
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