Are e-learning employees getting a raw deal?

There's little doubt that e-learning has made great strides over the years. India today boasts of a sizeable number of e-learning companies with clients of all sizes and shapes -- from small to Fortune 500 companies. And Indian companies appear to be scoring high on quality issues.

But the flipside of the whole game is ironical. While all e-learning companies boasts of a competent workforce, most do not price their resources. Today as the industry stands in the threshold of a revolution in the software and e-learning sector, e-learning professionals are getting far too less than they actually deserve. And that explains the huge exodus of e-learning professionals from one company to another and even to the IT sector.

Most e-learning companies do not have an employee insurance scheme. This means that if employees meet with a fatal accident, they are left on their own -- with nowhere to go. Their family members are left to strive on their own. The company simply dashes off a condolence message to one and all through e-mail and loo all are back to work. As one e-learning professional working with one of India's largest e-learning company in New Delhi recently observed, "They kiss you like a buddy when they need you and dump you like a fly when you are in distress."

In the US, e-learning employees are covered through a comprehensive health and life insurance. Surprisingly, in India, while most e-learning companies emulate the US model they simply ignore things when it comes to employee welfare. This trend should change, if at all Indian e-learning companies are serious about registering global success stories.

Understandably the demand for a regulator of the e-learning industry, that has been doing the rounds of informal corridors in India, has been more from employees than from e-learning employers because of the simple reason that a regulator is more likely to tighten the noose around e-learning companies than the code of conduct laid down for the professionals.

There are good reasons to beleive why the e-learning sector is looked down upon by IT professionals in software companies. Most IT professionals believe that in an era of scare resources its foolish to hang around in a sector that offers challenges sans simple employee benefits like health insurance and accidental insurance. While these benefits come natural to software professionals in IT companies e-learning companies continue crying over "petty" profits that they claim to make. While the fact remains that most e-learning companies are raking in profits amounting to millions of dollars.

Perhaps this explains the huge exodus of e-learning professionals from one company to another without showcasing a wee bit of attachment to companies. And they are right when they do so. Afterall who the heck is concerned about e-learning companies when these companies have done almost nothing to win the heart and confidence of its resources. And its also justified when I hear tales of e-learning professionals demanding hefty remuneration packages and annual increments forcing employers to concede. Perhaps these companies deserve it!