The Indian IT industry : a global production network perspective

With regard to the IT/ITES industry, globalisationand the rapid improvements in communications technologies, the decoupling of hardware from software opened a window of opportunity for countries rich in human capital such as India to becomeinvolved in the IT value chain. To this end, the Indian state created the enabling conditions for Indian IT firms to engage with global markets by particularly enhancing the quality of human resources, providing for tax holidays and infrastructure facilities. Further, the state has increasingly withdrawn from the regulation of the sector.Nonetheless, employees across the IT/ITES industry have benefited in terms of higher salaries, better working conditions and mobility in terms of status in society. At the same time,issuesrelated tojob security, social protection, working hours and work-life balanceshow shortcomings.Moreover,given that the work outsourced to India is at the lower end of the value chain, a highly educated workforce has been relegated to mundane and dead-end jobs in terms of employment.Thus, the gains from participation in the global economy do not seem to be effectively disseminated.With regard to enabling rights, the fear of reprisals by employers has made joining trade unions ineffective in practice. Nonetheless, the formation of UNITES andFITE though unsuccessful are some developments that point to the available space for creative and collaborative confrontation in the industry.The challenge remains for unions to grasp the emerging opportunities and ally themselves with other civil society organisations to courageously and creatively confront the practices of the IT industry.