Another day in paradise

Don't let the heading mislead you. Life in the corporate world is anything but a stroll through paradise. In fact, its what firms would like us to perceive; sometimes at the cost of their own employees. I speak of contractual obligations that hinder easy relinquishment of one's job. A prime example in this regard is the employment bond. A bond from the perspective of a fresh engineering graduate was a hindrance to the easy departure from the employer within a stipulated period as specified in the bond.

A bond is also not to be confused with an investment as the bank earns an interest on the amount which you don't even use for the period that you hold it for. So it’s a lose-lose situation for most of us. The thought behind it is justified however, as its a means to prevent people to quit right after completion of their training and then leverage the employer's brand name to switch to another firm. But the end result is quite different. A case in point is an acquaintance that works at a prestigious Indian IT firm and is currently engaged in his training. At the same time, he has converted a call from a foreign university to pursue a master’s degree in engineering and prefers to leave. But the employment bond hinders his easy exit, as it needs him to pay a lump-sum amount before he can quit the job. So he is now attempting to exploit the system by intentionally failing the training exams so the company sacks him ergo relieving him of his liability related to the bond. This way he need not pay the bond amount.

As we can see from this example, the inception of the employment bond makes the job environment far from ideal. It may not be a reason for firms to question the institution of employment bonds but maybe some changes are in order.

Obviously the sentiments in the employee with regard to the bond is that of discomfort as it makes them think twice before thinking about an early job switch or exit from the firm to try and implement an alternate career plan. Given the ambitious nature of most youngsters today, a tendency to switch jobs is commonplace. Definitely these bonds are working in the companies' favour in this aspect as its screening out most probably defectors. But as mentioned before some individuals will still find a work around and exploit the system. Pretty much no one is hesitant about stooping to new lows; all for the sake of attaining what they perceive as utopia.

Its just another day in paradise