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| Slowdown makes Diwali 'muted' for software firms |
| Press Trust Of India / Bangalore Oct 29, 2008, 00:13 IST |
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The global economic slump has muted the celebration of the ‘festival of lights’ for most export-driven software companies in the silicon city this year.
“By and large, the economic downturn has resulted in the mood being sombre and muted in firms this Diwali,” said senior officials of several software companies here, a majority of whom derive more than 50 per cent of their revenues from the US market.
There has also been a significant reduction in corporate gifting, a sharp contrast to the days when clients and employees were lavishly given freebies in a robust business environment. Some firms even offered their employees long weekend holidays to destinations of their choice.
“The economic environment is flat. There is a lot of reduction in gifting for customers. However, one has to make the most of it. Exuberance has given place to seriousness,” said T V Mohandas Pai, HR Head Infosys.
Software professionals were pampered with the choicest of sweets for Diwali, offering brisk business for the sweet shops of Bangalore, who literally thrived on the sales from IT employees during the festival.
For Anand Dayal Dadu, managing partner, Anand Sweets, one of the oldest sweet shops in Bangalore, whose 75 per cent Diwali sales came from software firms, sales this festival have dipped substantially, thanks to the global recession.
“Companies, which used to place orders for sweet boxes worth Rs 28 lakh for Diwali have slashed it to a mere Rs 7 lakh this time,” he lamented.
However, despite the mood being subdued in most software firms, there are companies which are not bothered by the downturn and have ushered in the festival with the same excitement and gusto as earlier.
Radha Radhakrishnan, corporate communications manager, Wipro Technologies and Revathi Kasturi, managing director, West Asia, Novell Software, feel that though the global financial crisis has had its effect on software firms, the mood is that of acceptance of the situation. Corporate gifting has seen a dip this year, they admit.
For Ashok Soota, CMD, MindTree Consulting, the global financial slump has not impacted the mood of the software firm this Diwali. “We are still sharing the same number of sweets and nut boxes with our employees. MindTree does not believe in corporate gifting,” he said.
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