KOCHI: Thousands of IT professionals from Kerala are at the receiving end across the globe amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Many techies abroad have opted to work from home and quarantine themselves at their home out of fear. According to Prathidhwani, a cultural organisation of IT professionals at Technopark here, around 3,000 techies of various companies are currently located in different parts of the globe. From Infopark in Kochi, 1,000 to 1,500 techies are currently in different countries.
Dileesh Pillai, a techie currently working at Nebraska, US, is literally stranded because of the ongoing situation. “I came here on February 14 and the coronavirus situation started to escalate here within days after my arrival. There are not many Indians here and I couldn’t get the driving licence because everything is shut. All my colleagues are working from home. Initially, a colleague of mine used to help me. Now because of the ongoing situation, people are scared to meet each other.
People are panic buying and even essentials including hand wash, sanitisers and survival kits are unavailable at nearby shops. Corona cases have started being reported here and it’s scary as I haven’t settled down yet,” says Dileesh. Nidheesh C, a techie currently located in Japan, said job security is becoming a major concern. “Some of the companies are not giving contract extension to IT professionals. Many of my friends were planning to return to India by March-end or April first week. Unfortunately, because of air travel restrictions, all of them couldn’t leave. Also, people are getting transferred to far-away and remote places,” says Nidheesh, who has bene transferred from Tokyo to Iwaki, Fukushima.
“The place is almost 300km away from Tokyo, where I currently work. I have no other option but to go there and work. The situation is getting tougher for us. Panic buying is there and things are getting sold out quickly. We stand in queues and when our turn to shop comes, there won’t be anything left to purchase,” says Nidheesh.
Many of the techies working in the US and other countries are living under the fear of losing their jobs because of the nose-diving economy. Mithun Murali, a techie working in New York, said people are losing jobs. “I moved here seven years back. There is panic buying because of the ongoing situation and I have two kids including a one-year-old. All of a sudden, everything has become very uncertain. We are staring at an economic recession and people are going to lose jobs,” says Mithun, who lives in New Jersey.
“Despite all the Covid-19 scare, people here are going out as if everything is normal which is not good. Many in the Malayalee community here are confining themselves to homes. Even now, the public transportation is open. We order things online or email the list to the stores we frequently visit,” says Mithun.
job loss
Many of the techies working in the US and other countries are living under the fear of losing their jobs because of the nose-diving economy