ASSOCHAM: Facebook killing office productivity
By Techgirl

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), describes itself as the “premier apex chamber covering a membership of over 2 lakh companies and professionals across the country. It was established in 1920 by promoter chambers, representing all regions of India.”  It lobbies on behalf of Indian employers.

Most of the times it does a sterling job to protect its member’s interests, but sometimes it says things which defy logic.  Sometimes, ASSOCHAM is seen as the hysterical voice of business frightening the public and employees with worst case scenarios. All designed to help employers and keep employees in line.

In Oct, 2008 (See article below), I had reported on how ASSOCHAM had released a study warning that there would be 25-30 percent job cuts in seven sectors - Aviation,  Steel,  Finance services,  Real estate,  Cement, Construction and even IT.  We experienced the worst of the recession, but as per my prediction in October, 2008, the ASSOCHAM figures proved to be more fear mongering than fact.

On Dec 20, 2009 ASSOCHAM released another survey titled ‘Corporate Employees Productivity Is Killed By 12.5% In Surfing Sites’.

Yes, ASSOCHAM claims that surfing Facebook and Orkut ‘Kills’ your productivity. The highlights of the survey are

“
Close to 12.5% of productivity of human resource in corporate sector is misappropriated each day since a vast majority of them while away their time accessing social networking sites during the office hours, reveal findings of ASSOCHA’S M Social Development Foundation (ASDF) survey.

Almost each day, an average corporate employee spends an hour, glued to various social networking sites such as Orkut, Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin etc. for romancing or otherwise deriving some satisfaction out of it. With this average corporate employee’s each day working is reduced by an hour from 8 hour to 7 hour, further reveal the ASDF survey.

The above findings are arrived at by random survey, carried out by the ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF) in which nearly 4000 corporate employees were interviewed between age group ranging from  21-30, 31-45 and 46 -60 years in metros and towns such as Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Indore, Ahemdabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Lucknow and Kanpur.
“

If this ASSOCHAM survey is to be believed in its entirely, Indian youngsters also use MySpace.  The survey stated: “The most sought after site for the purpose has been found to be Orkut and Facebook especially for corporate personnel of age group of 21-30 followed by Myspace and Linkedin.”

ASSOCHAM appears shocked when it claims “Interestingly, 83% see nothing wrong in surfing at work during the office hours.”

The survey gets a bit bizarre when it claims that only 29 percent of women but 45 percent of men use such sites to ‘keep in touch with family’. (See ASSOCHAM chart above). Yes, it is Indian men and not we women who keep in touch with family.

ASSOCHAM, some of your facts do make sense.  But if you want to have more credibility for your reports, do release your exact methodology for such surveys.  Which firm did you use?  Which companies did you survey?  How did you ensure the integrity of the data provided by the interview subject?

In Oct, 2008, you told us there could be up to 30 percent job cuts in seven sectors of the Indian economy!

In Dec, 2009, you are telling us 45 percent of men use Orkut and Facebook to ‘keep in touch with family!

What next?  A survey showing how business owners and senior managers stick to work while on business ‘visits’?

(Techgoss had published the following article on Oct 31, 2008)

25 percent sackings
By Techgirl

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), describes itself as the “premier apex chamber covering a membership of over 2 lakh companies and professionals across the country. It was established in 1920 by promoter chambers, representing all regions of India.”

Most of the times it does a sterling job to protect its member’s interests, but sometimes it says things which defy logic.

ASSOCHAM has just released a study ‘Jobs Scenario Post Diwali’  which states there would be 25-30 percent job cuts in seven sectors - Aviation,  Steel,  Finance services,  Real estate,  Cement, Construction and even IT.  According to Assocham President Sajjan Jindal the HR managers of these industries have told the organization that they are preparing to lay off as many as 30 percent of their workforce.

While there is no doubt that the global meltdown has affected everyone especially aviation, financial services and cement, there are too many variables in the market.  China and India will continue to grow at a minimum of 6-7 percent.  American and European Governments are pouring in hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize the market.  By all accounts, it will take a few more weeks to get a clearer idea on which countries will be in recession and for how long.

And what is the logic of grouping IT with Aviation and other industries?  Does Assocham feel that the job losses will be 40 percent in Aviation and only 20 percent in IT?  Or vice versa.  It has not released any granular data and so the figures seem educated guesswork at best. And a scare campaign at worst.

Assocham is making a bold prediction that the jobs cuts would take place in the next 10 days.

I feel there may be attrition but it will only be restricted to single digits.

We only have to wait for 10 days to find out how accurate Assocham predictions are.  Or is it just a clever strategy on behalf on employers to make the situation seem worse than it is.  This would ensure less employee resistance when there are fewer job losses.  Very conveniently, Assocham says that if the Government loosens the strings of monetary policy and cuts interest rates these job losses can be minimized.

Techgoss note:  Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog http://techgirltalk.blogspot.com