Techies to make merry in year-end break

HYDERABAD: IT companies are pampering software engineers in Hyderabad in the Christmas and New Year season. Multinational companies (MNC) are giving paid leaves to all employees from December 25 to January 1. Companies are encouraging employees to unplug and rejuvenate during the holidays so that they perform better from the New Year.

Mr L. Kiran an MNC employee in Hyderabad, said, “I am looking forward for the holidays and have made the travel plans. I am certain that I won’t get calls from clients as they are also enjoying the holiday season.”

While companies like Deloitte are giving wide holidays, organisations like Wipro and ITC are encouraging employees to plan their leaves when the clients declare shutdown. “If a client declares holiday, then all the employees who are catering to that client tend to shut down,” said Sundeep Kumar Makthala, global president of the Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA). 

However, If a client is working during the holiday season, the project team has to work and support him. 

“The year-end shutdown helps the infrastructure team to apply patches and perform maintenance activities. During this window, application developers, delivery team and people who code will get a chance to relax,” said Mr Makthala
There are some companies, where the burden is completely on the Indian engineers. 

Ms Fouzia Saeed, who works in a MNC, said, “I have to work on January 1 as well. We do collaborative work between the US and India. As the US being the major work provider, we work here to support our clients.”

Companies in general reduce operations during the year end, so that employees can relax. Managers follow a lenient approach towards employees seeking leave during the holiday season. Further-more, the employees are advised to utilise 20 per cent of the leaves notified.