What needs to be done to stem the workforce turnover and migration in the Indian software industry?
It is already a downward trend in workforce turnover in the Indian software industry. The government has eased the tax laws to make employee share ownership plans, Esops, attractive. Earlier, an individual paid tax twice while availing Esops. First, Esops were taxed as perks when the option was exercised and later as capital gains when a sale was made. But now, tax is required to be paid only once. Only capital gains at the time of sale. As a result, tax on Esops has come down from a high of 38 per cent to just 10.1 per cent. This has had a significant effect in reducing workforce turnover. Are the restrictive labour regimes of some states hampering growth of the Indian software industry? Yes. For instance, the policy of not allowing women to work in night shifts is hampering the growth of IT-enabled services such as medical transcription, call centres and back-office automation. Then there is this question of forming trade unions. The Indian information technology industry has been al
