Mahir Haneef
Kochi: Fresh retirees from government jobs are facing an acid test of adaptability in their effort to find employment and those who have managed to find new jobs are having a tough time to prove themselves useful.
As computers still remain a luxury in our government offices, these officers have been going about their jobs in the age-old pen-and-paper environment. Suddenly they find themselves in a difficult situation when they try for a job in private establishments as these offices are computerised, based on the theory of maximum utilisation and efficiency.
VK Samuel, a recent retiree from the Accountant General’s office, wants to be keep himself busy and earn a few bucks rather than sit at home idly. He is not alone, but most of the fresh retirees think along these lines. But he was shocked to find that he cannot engage his accounting skills, in which he has become a master by now, in some private firm because they are asking for a computer-literate person.
“I know every single detail of accounting but I am not able to do get any work because companies are asking whether you can do the same on a computer. Another aspect is that my job in AG’s Office didn’t require me to prepare a balance sheet, but only part of an account. Private companies that I have applied for asks for somebody who can prepare the balance sheet on a computer, both of which I do not know even after so many years of service in the industry. Companies prefer young people who are computer savvy rather than retired hands like me. They pay both of us equally and hiring young people is more profitable for them,” says Mr Samuel.
P Shamsuddeen, another fresh retiree, says “I can’t even find employment as a billing clerk as even that has been computerised. Suddenly I find myself useless in a world surrounded by technology, which I am not used to and quite messy to study and operate. When I tried to find employment after retiring, the only option available was to go for marketing, for which there are lots of young people who are more competent and are able to travel around and do the job. I decided not to go for that as I cannot do that much travel in this age and do not possess the suave nature needed for a marketing guy.”
When asked whether he went for any computer course, Mr Shamsuddeen said “We had computer courses arranged by our office, but those provided only the basics and I the only thing I learned from the course was to switch the computer on and off. Either the course failed or I failed to provide the knowledge necessary to handle a job with the help of a computer.”
Sixty-three year-old V Haneefa, who retired as an Arabic Professor, is able to handle the basic computer jobs needed for his visa-translation office. He does his work on a computer and uses a laser printer to get print outs of his work. But he limits his activities on the computer to these. He also holds regular consultations with a computer expert to overcome the difficulties that surface once in a while, and is also an ‘early adopter’ of computers.
The most cited reasons for not going for computer classes while in service were fear of learning something new, financial constraints, poor interface of computer operating systems and programmes and lack of exposure.
