The Hidden Cost of Staying in IT Services Too Long
This article is for the "Safe Player".
You work at TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, or Cognizant. You have been there for 6+ years. Your parents love your job because it is "stable".
You are comfortable. The campus is nice. The bench time is relaxing. You haven't given an interview in 4 years because the thought of LeetCode terrifies you.
But you look at your Product company peers earning 3x your salary and wonder: "What did I do wrong?"
The Expectation
You believe in Loyalty.
You think: "If I stick around, I will eventually become a Manager/Delivery Head. The On-Site opportunity is just around the corner."
You believe that "Experience" is measured in years. You think that 10 years at Infosys = 10 Years of Experience.
You think the "brand name" of a massive MNC protects you from irrelevance.
The Reality
The brutal truth: You are not an Engineer; you are a Row in an Excel Sheet.
Service companies optimize for 'Billability', not 'Capability'. Their business model is to sell you to a client at $40/hour while paying you $5/hour.
To maximize margin, they must keep you on established, legacy tech (Java 8, older .NET, Mainframes, Support). Innovation hurts their margins because it requires training.
10 Years at Infosys is often just 1 Year of Experience, repeated 10 times.
The "On-Site" carrot is a manipulation tactic. Managers dangle the US/Europe visa to keep you cheap. You wait 4 years for a visa that never comes, while your market skills rot. By the time you realize it, you are too old to learn React.
Salary & Growth Reality
The longer you stay, the more Unhirable you become.
Product companies (Uber, Amazon, Swiggy, Zerodha) do not care about your 'Domain Knowledge' of a specific insurance client's legacy system.
They care about Problem Solving, System Design, and Modern Stacks. Every year you spend maintaining a legacy Struts application is a year you are falling behind the industry standard.
See the "Lifer Curve" below:
| Tenure | Service Co Hike | Product Market Value |
|---|---|---|
| Year 0-2 | 3-5% | High (Transferable) |
| Year 5 | 5-8% | Declining (Legacy Trap) |
| Year 10 | Stagnant | Unhirable |
*The "Lifer" penalty kicks in hard after Year 6.
Where Most People Get Stuck
You get stuck because of The Golden Handcuffs of Mediocrity.
You are paid slightly above market for your actual skill level (which has atrophied), but effectively below market for your years of experience.
To switch, you would have to accept that you are technically a Junior compared to a 4-year experience Product Engineer.
Your ego won't let you compete with a 24-year-old. So you stay. And the trap tightens.
Who Should Avoid This Path
This path works for: People who have zero interest in technology and view a job purely as a paycheck to fund a low-stress life. There is no shame in that, as long as you accept the low growth.
This path destroys: Ambitious Technologists. If you care about your craft, get out before Year 3. Run.
Final Verdict
Leave before Year 6.
If you are past Year 6, you are in the Danger Zone. You need to aggressively upskill (night and weekends) and take a "downgrade" in title to enter a Product firm.
If you stay for 10 years, accept that you are a "Lifer". Stop complaining about the salary. You paid for Safety with Stagnation.