2019: 48
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Who Stole My Job
Sunil Mishra
Srishti Publications
2019. Pp - 180.
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// Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vice, and need. //
~Voltaire
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Creative Tech is one of best IT companies in the country, for years now. It's at its high when Arvind Shankar is replaced with Marshal Scott as the new CEO, with great tasks ahead of him. It's only a matter of time now that Creative Tech and the life of its employees will never be the same again. A transformation is visible. But at what cost? Read on to find out.
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The book opens with Satvik Saxena, an employee, getting to know of this new development at his company. As a character, he's important for us. Sativik is our eyes into Creative Tech. He is our window, offering us a peak into the happenings of the company and their effects on the lives of its employees.
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I have different opinions on this one, as a book and as a story.
Firstly, as a story, I believe that the plot line could have been made a little more engrossing and exciting, softening the technicality and the detailing. And the cover and the blurb, even though is on point in all its honesty, could have used some creativity.
There were a few glitches in the storyline as well. Specially the contradictory nature of the flowery picture painted of the company in beginning as opposed to the evident dissatisfaction of its employees (all this before the new CEO comes into the picture).
Also, some might like the bold highlighted texts that show the new CEO's vision, but I personally didn't. It made me feel like I was reading a report or a document than a story.
And finally, the characters could have been built a little strongly, specially the character of Vikas. I feel he's not just important for Satvik, but us readers too. And by now I think it's safe to say I liked Vikas's character much more than Sativik's.
It's not Sativik's narration but the discussion between him and Ajesh and him and Vikas that helps us understand the book better. I would have liked it if Sativik too was more than just as a receiver of all that's going on in the company.
Maybe it's because of this that the narration felt slow and sometimes even monotonous. At some points, the author just lost me with the details.
It took me a while to build a flow into this book, but 50 pages or so into the story, I developed interest.
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Otherwise, as a book, I appreciate it for many reasons.
* It provides us with an insight into the corporate world, a first hand experience.
* One part that I liked and found very relevant and would like to mention, was the one in the shift in principal policy of hiring, modifying the larger company dynamics- from 'earn in dollars and spend in money' as the growth mantra and motivation for employees to the threat of international hiring.
Issues like these in a growing global market of today are quite relevant. Expatriation, repatriation, IHRM, are budding issues.
* Having studied papers on HR and organisational behavior in my final semesters, I had some background of the technical terms used here like 'attrition', 'acquisition', etc. but many people might face this problem and a gap would come in understanding.
* Another thing I liked was how the story is not gives us not just an employee's perspective, through Satvik (and sometimes Ajesh and Vikas) but also goes beyond to the leader's perspective, the hardships that go into making a company success and the journey, through Marshal's eyes.
* It also brushes the struggle for a generation that is neither here nor there. Not all in but not all back, either. I don't know if I make sense, but Who Stole My Job is also a story of this struggle, of people working in a company for more than a decade, dealing and adjusting to new socio-cultural changes around the world, and at times, even feeling betrayed after all the hard work they've put in.
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A 3 on 5. Therefore, it's at least a one time read for everyone, not for leisure but as an insightful experience.
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