B Y  G U R U   K A M A T H
Founding President, India Chapter

Today, the TWIN (Technical Writers of India) mailing list has 475 members, including about 75 abroad. Based on this fact, my own guess is that today there may be about 2,000 technical writers in India. A vast majority of technical communication jobs and roles are still performed by programmers, multimedia experts, marketing professionals, copywriters, and others. This situation is changing rapidly and the role of technical writers is being appreciated. Anushree Tewari, Program Manager, Ikos India Pvt Ltd, says: "This number is growing very fast even though formal technical communication programs are not available in Indian Universities."

In India most companies are lone writer companies. Few companies like Parametric, Cognizant, Ramco and Infosys have large teams of 20-30 technical writing and related professionals. The situation is improving with many companies now having 2-5 technical writers. In India, technical writing is mainly prevalent in the software industry and yet only a few companies employ technical writers.

The computer industry is booming and growing at a rapid pace. Hardware and software multinationals are slowly making headway here. Recently, IBM launched its hardware manufacturing facilities here. Intel, Microsoft, Adobe and many others already have their facilities here. Telecommunication giants such as Motorola, Ericcson, Philips are also here.

Says Pravin from Novell: "Novell has the largest development facility (outside USA) in Bangalore. Bangalore is called the Silicon Valley of India. It houses a host of big names like Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, HP, Compaq, Digital, Aztech, Logica, and SAP."

The number of home PC users is growing at a rapid rate. However, the rate of computerization is low. We have still not come to the stage where computerization is ubiquitous.

The phone access and Internet access in India is improving rapidly. In the last couple of years, we have made a giant leap in terms of infrastructure, technology, and bandwidth. Within the next 12 months, we will again see a dramatic growth in ISPs (Internet Service Providers), number of Internet users, bandwidth, and so forth.

Says Anushree about Internet and phone access: "Very good and improving every day. In my company, we are using a 256 KB WAN link."

As technical communication is just emerging as a profession in India, there is not much specialization. The designations are typically: Technical Writer, Technical Editor, Documentation Executive, Technical Communicator, and so forth. Only in a few companies we have Marcom specialists, Proposal writers, Procedure writers and Instructional Designers. Usability, localization and globalization have not caught on yet.

The two main jobs performed by technical writers are writing user documentation and creating online help. Editing of system documentation and other technical material is another common task. However, today the scope of work is increasing to include web page creation and maintenance and other Internet- and intranet-related activities.

Pipson Sebastian can be regarded as a typical technical writer. Here is what he does in his own words:

"I work in a Japanese multinational corporation. Our company's activities include, among others, creation and marketing of Active X/MRP/CRM products. I look after the creation of web content, brochures, case studies, press releases, articles, proposal templates and important communication. My responsibility also includes monitoring the work of our ad and public relations agency."

Paromita Mukerjee's (Manager - Communications, Ficon Technology) work includes:

"Author technical, corporate and marketing documents, and online help systems, carry out usability testing, implement documentation processes and manage them, design information for web pages (Internet as well as intranet), manage DTP vendor relations, etc."

Cooperation from programmers and Subject Matter Experts is a must for the technical writer. In most companies the information flow and cooperation is smooth and highly effective. Technical writers are highly respected by fellow workers and are included as members of the development team. In other companies, technical writers are regarded as secretaries or DTP operators who just beautify the text. Here is how Pravin Prabhakar, Technical Writer, Novell Software Development India Ltd feels:

"The perception of my colleagues is very good and encouraging. Everyone realizes that writing is an important part of the product development cycle. We are treated at par with others in the organization."

Says Anushree:

"We need to introduce graduate and masters programs in Universities. We need to have public relations activities to educate people about our profession. We need to have technical communication forums to provide increased interaction among practitioners."

Adds Paromita,

"Training institutes such as NIIT, Aptech and STG could well foray into this area. It will be beneficial to them as well as their students."

A wide variety of tools are not readily available to our technical writers. Lack of technical writers for recruitment was also cited as a problem. Every year at least 5-10 percent of our technical writers move on to greener pastures in Singapore, Middle East, Canada, Australia and USA. This creates a big vacuum. The educational system does not develop technical writers. Most technical writers come from journalism or computer science backgrounds. Many drift into this profession as it's highly lucrative.

Multinationals like IBM and Microsoft have totally changed the salary levels in India. Recently on the TWIN list there was an announcement with an annual salary of Rs. 8 lakhs ($18,000) -- meaning a monthly salary of Rs.66, 000 ($1,550). Needless to add, most companies have good perks, bonuses, free lunches, etc. Some companies even offer stock to their employees as a way of retaining them. Interestingly, a large multinational offered Rs.45, 000 salary per month ($1,100) and yet there were no takers. At the other extreme, local companies have no qualms about hiring fresh graduates on an annual salary of Rs.66, 000 ($1,550). This is the lowest rung of the technical writing ladder. However, in good companies the salary is double or treble this figure. Rapid salary increases are the order of the day in the software industry. This is mainly due to two reasons: high turnover of staff and the entry of multinationals. Typically, salary increases are 20-50 percent per year depending on performance.

In some places, technical writers are not treated on par with programmers and "engineers" in terms of salaries and benefits. In some companies the situation is the reverse - programmers are left wondering why technical writers are paid higher then them. Large Indian companies also pay handsomely. Says one such writer:

"We are generally paid as much as those in the development group. Our starting salary can be anywhere between Rs.12, 000 and Rs.18, 000 (nearly $500) per month."

Avhad Ankush writes from Motorola, Singapore:

"STC India Chapter members and TWIN members are alert and very supportive in promoting the technical writing field….Chapter members should contribute and develop some standards in technical writing and publish it…."

P. Kiranmayee, Technical Writer, Hexaware Infosystems suggests:

"Exchange programs, publishing a magazine and creating awareness about technical writing among CEOs and companies. Create awareness at school and college level."

Fall 1999
Volume 2, # 4