Despite 70 percent of Indian IT professionals having been promoted in the last 12 months and 42 percent in the last six months, nearly half have been with their employers for less than a year, found a survey released on April 6.

Job-hopping is de rigueur, according to the survey, released by CyberMedia Dice, a technology job site based in Bangalore, India, and TNS India, a research firm. This leaves software firms, that once had the upper hand in job negotiations, scrambling to embrace worker retention tactics to hold on to their employees.

According to the survey, job content and workplace growth opportunities are more important to employees than annual salary, even though salaries have recently grown 15 to 20 percent.

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Highlighting an especially mobile workforce, the majority of responding Indian IT professionals (63 percent) fell in the age group of 23 to 31 years old, and had less than five years of experience in software-related products and services.

"A closer look at the profile indicates that they are restless, very ambitious professionals looking for a fast-track career growth. The challenge for the industry is to meet their ambitions and aspirations," said Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of CyberMedia Dice.

Using their own custom measure of "the strength of an employee-employer relationship," the survey found that most of the Indian IT work force was a committed group and happy with their jobs, though 60 percent admitted to posting resumes on job portals, quietly shopping around for the best deal in town.

The study revealed that the employees demonstrated the highest commitment to their organization in their first year of employment and that it dropped considerably in the years that followed. More than 75 percent of India's IT professionals had been with their current employer for less than two years.

The single most important determinant of employee motivation and commitment to their jobs, according to respondents, was growth opportunity.

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However, the survey shed light on the long hours that Indian IT pros work. Three out of five respondents said they worked between eight and ten hours every day, and one in six put in more than ten daily. Less than one-quarter put in under eight hours each day.

Yet, the techies are being fairly rewarded for their long hours.

"The CyberMedia Dice-TNS survey reveals that the postgraduates in technical subjects are getting paid 17 percent more than MBAs employed in the IT industry," said Abraham Mathew, CEO of CyberMedia Dice.

Salaries tended to be the highest in Western and Southern India, and in larger organizations.

Ninety percent of respondents said their ideal employer would be a multinational software firm, either Indian or non-Indian.

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