Why startups in India find it hard to hire devs

abebooks.com (and I'm sure plenty of others) frequently middle-man for sub-continent re-sellers.

Although this seems the easiest way out, but I don't think we should give into the demands of the system. For a while going away to US or the West has been the aim of our youth and needless to say this has caused significant amount of brain drain. The society is resistive to change, but change they will finally some day.

For example, a relative of mine immigrated to the US in the 90's. And is a successful doctor there. Now sometimes when he comes back for a vacation he wonders it was not such a good decision after all. There are plenty of opportunities in India. And you can economically well off too.

On the other hand. The cost of living in the US is too high, for the conservative and savings driven lives of Indians it becomes a little to get adjusted there. You life is driven by perpetual debt and insurances. Ultimately it looks like money is not for your luxury but you are for the luxury of money and big banks. Sure the infrastructure is a lot cleaner and there are high rises, it may feel like you in heaven for some time.

But on a longer run, spending your whole life paying off bank loans, credit card debts and all sorts of loans and debts. At the end of it you feel all that was not worth it.

Oh, I can tell this isn't just a thing about your company but nearly all companies in India these days. Yes arranged marriage market is a crazy place, Unless you have a tag 'manager', 'architect' the prospective girls don't care much about the boy.

And this is understandably so, some time in the 90's and early 2000's the IT sector grew rapidly and promotions and hikes happened regardless of your worth. I even know people who have just got into the industry an year or two, did some testing and report writing. Pushed and sent to an onsite location like US or Europe and the third year you are back, you are promoted to be a manager. The middle level management in most IT giants is rotting with inefficient talent promoted early.

There fore the assumption with the current generation is regardless of their merit they need to go to the 'promised lands'(US and Europe) in an year, get promoted to a Managerial designation, book a flat, buy a car, marry with heavy dowry and settle down.

That's not happening these days. So most resort to job hopping. Some even hop jobs every eight months, whats more hilarious is.. Companies giving hikes to people who hop jobs but not to the ones who stay and perform. Adding to this regional politics in office spaces, drives the genuinely good guys crazy.

Not just the start up in general its a little to hire good developers in India. Not because they are unavailable, but because they are often lost in the huge crowd rush. The general good folks that come out IIT's and REC's do either join a company like Google or alike. Or Write a entrance exam like CAT to work for some investment bank. Or do their MS in US and permanently plan to settle down some where in the west. In other words they just don't want to be a part of the system at all. Barring a few.

The other good folks have a very terrible problem they are forced to run with the crowd. Often they get hired by the IT big giants. The scenario there is pretty different. In the 90's and early 2000's most of them in such companies got promoted very early to managerial designations, went to onsite location like the US. Got very rich due to stocks, money earned in foreign location(due to foriegn exchange) and the hikes from promotion. They have a lot of money and give a damn on how things run, they have nothing to loose after all.

When folks join such big companies often these are the sort of people whom they meet and are forced to draw inspiration from. Most managers have hardly coded and don't know a jack about technical stuff.And since the hurry is to now become a manager, buy a flat, a car, marry with rich dowry and settle down. The struggle happens on three counts and chief being get rich as early as you can, BY ANY MEANS you can. So since now becoming manager is the key, most don't want to code at all. Some how fight, do politics(Which is very common here, due people from so many languages and regions mixing together. there is severe politics and biases towards there respective people) and go to onsite. And if this doesn't happen, go job hopping until you get it.

The sad fact is companies reward jop hoppers but the sincere ones who for long time and perform. I even know few folks who have hopped 5 jobs in 4 years, consider themselves Java expert and don't even what CLASSPATH is. Once they get the tag of 'lead' or alike they think they can just give orders and have servants do the job for them. This how 95% project managers and other designated alike work here. Adding to that to 'CYA' they purposefully promote inefficient folks, I think they a feel a good guy is direct threat to their own position.

The net result is more and more less risks projects are taken by Indian IT giants there days. Most of them in just bench testing and infrastructure management like IT support. And some times the managers are so inefficient they can't execute those projects properly.

Now coming to actually talented folks, we are terribly frustrated crowd. As self taught programmers(From other branches of engineering) and despite our hard work and merit we can neither go to companies like Google, because they treat non-CS and non-IIT folks like 'mud blood muggles' nor work for start ups. Start ups are mostly from MBA types who believe some how idea is all that matters and programmers are like typists whom they can just use and throw.

There is no easy way out of this problem. At least with the current social set up in India. Sometimes I feel I must immigrate to the US( Like Russians did frustrated with the system there.).

But no, this is my country. I will stay here and fight the system. And will do everything I can to make my country a better place and have genuinely good guys get what they deserve.

Very well written . The education system in India is absolutely a joke. Here is how it works . After 10th exams you take up science for 10+2. Simultaneously, you enroll for Maths,Physics and Chemistry tutions ( for IIT entrence exams). If you are dedicated ,hardworking ,sharp and have no social life ( ie do not do the things every teenager should do viz chase girls, get laid, loaf around) you might get into IITs or a good NIT ( say 3000 seats) . All others are doomed to join B/C grade colleges. Here comes the catch. Such colleges do not teach anything , they just print degrees . Students mug up OS, DB , Networking, Software Engg and pass out with distiction but are not able to install Windows or change IP address . Setting classpath/path or coding( BFS/DFS/Data Str / Searching & Sorting) is a far cry.

When i graduated ( with a CS degree from a B grade college ) I could not write "Hello world" in any language , did not know how to query records. However, I was placed in the first company that came to campus. These are USD 10 billion companies that build and maintain "MISSION CRITICAL" applications for all the "Movers & Shakers" of US of A.

Four years down the line , thanks to internets ( Esp Hacker News) I can code. From a zero to a decent programmer. My teammates(4-5 yrs of experience) can not write code that will print a directory structure. They can not complie code without eclipse. All they want is "ONSITE" This is the story of India that I know.